Hi, I have been part of the July starters thread, but now realize that since it is getting so long (Hurray for us!), I would like to have this little thread be for those of us that started the first week, and are now on week five. I noticed that other starting weeks in July have kind of broken out and have their own weigh in section. So, I am Carol, started July 2nd, (right before the 4th!) and am very happy to be down a total of 4.6 in my first four weeks. I know lots of you have lost that amount in your first week, and I am happy for you, but I am 51, on some medications like a thyroid supplement, and don't have much to lose, so I am thrilled with my total of 4.6, more than a pound a week. How is everybody else doing? Oh, and don't you think this is a marvelous time of year to be on this program because of the wide availability of fresh fruit? I am sure enjoying my three fruits a day.

Hi Carol:

I started on July 1st and lost a total of 16.4 pounds in the first month. I have my fifth weigh-in on Wednesday. I lost quite a few inches as well, but surprisingly I have not felt much of a difference in my clothes yet. This is my second time on JC. The first time was 5 years ago and I lost 75 pounds. It slowely came back on and then this last year it was an avalanche of weight. I am hoping to keep it off this time throrugh maintenance. (Which I skipped last time). I am 46 years old and am somewhat surprised that I am losing at the same rate as 5 years ago, so I feel pretty good about it.

I do love all the fresh fruit that's available right now. It almost seems like 3 servings a day is too much, but it is great to have. The good weather helps too for exercise. It is always easier for me in the summer months for those reasons, but harder due to more socializing opportunities.

How is everyone else doing?

I am so happy to meet you, Tapita. You are just a day ahead of me. I will have my 5th weigh in on Thursday. I was just in a car accident last Friday on my way home from work, so am not able to exercise right now.

Carol

Hello Carol,
I started July 6th I just weigh in today lost 7.2 pounds and 5 inches in my first 4 weeks.... I'm new to JC and I just love it!!1 I'm 48 and want to lose about 35 lbs I love all the fresh fruit and that I dont have to think... Had 2 dinners out with friends and it went good. good luck to everyone and keep walking

Hurray! good for you. It's pretty easy, don't you think? And the "not thinking" is great, just what is for dinner tonight? Rather than how many points do I have left, what can I do with that few? (speaking from a WW point of view).

I'm just loving it... I did WW and I know what you mean with the points!! this is easy and right now easy is what I need

Hello Ladies,

I started July 1st. My name is Michelle and I am in Wilmington, Delaware (about 20 minutes south of Philadelphia). I am 34 years old, married, no children, 3 cats. =^..^=

My goal is to loss 25 pounds. After 4 weeks on JC, I lost 8 pounds.

My 5th weigh-in was this morning. I bearly lost anything (-0.4). My consultant and I talked about it and discussed that I have drastically increased the intensity of my exercise and am now exercising 6 days a week. Stuck to my JC program to the "t" last week and made great choices when I went to a BBQ on Sunday. I was expecting at least a 2 pounds loss this week and was disappointed.

Came home and dove into a bowl of cereal to consel myself. This is were I knew my mindset is changing for the better. My cereal choice was Fiber One instead of something insanely sugary! So I am working my slip-up into my day and will stay on track.

My JCC said that if we don't see at least a pound loss the next 2 weigh-ins then we will call the nutritionist. She is thinking that it is possible that I might have to increase my calorie count to 1500 from the current 1200. Hope it doesn't come to that....1500 calories is scary for someone like me that is and has been obessed with counting 1200 daily calories for the last 4 years.

Hope everyone has a great day!

PS - Carol, hope you weren't hurt badly in your accident. You're speedy recovery is in my thoughts and prayers.

Hi Everyone!

My name is Shaneka and I started Jenny Craig on July 1st. I am 30 years old, married with two dogs and am just did my weigh in and am down 10.6 pounds in 5 weeks! Needless to say I am so happy about this milestone and feel even more motivated to get my weight down. I will definitely be keeping up with this thread and have a great week everyone! All the best!


Shaneka

Height: 5'9"
SW: 253 lbs

Week 1: -3.0
Week 2: -2.0
Week 3: -2.0
Week 4: -0.6
Week 5: -3.0 - Reached 10 pound Milestone!!! That's two 5-pound bags of sugar!
Week 6:
Week 7:
Week 8:

Hey Michelle- I'm in New Brunswick, NJ at Rutgers. 30 and married with three cats

Hey, it's wonderful to see these replies and to hear how everyone is doing. I am a former WW employee and knew ways to kind of abuse the points system, and even though I knew I was supposed to eat healthy, I still would spend points on junk food and then try to make up for it. This is so easy, just knowing food is prepared for you, take it out of the freezer, and the nutrition is right there for you. I think it is kind of like some have said, you don't focus on food as much and think of it as body fuel. Does anyone have any suggestions for salads? I am getting pretty bored on those. And thanks for the prayers and good wishes on my recovery from the car accident. I am going to try to go on a walk today, first I will have been out of the house since last Friday. I am also going to try to work a 4 hour shift tomorrow. But first the walk, to see how tired out I get. Best wishes to all,

Carol

This has been my usual salad for the last 4 weeks.

1/2 bag of 50/50 mix (half spinach, half spring greens)
handful grape tomatoes
1/4 cup blueberries (1/2 fruit serving)
1 oz reduced fat feta
plus favorite low fat dressing (I like Newman's own honey mustard or ginger)

Anyone in our "First Week of July" starters on facebook?

I am if anyone would like to connect on there.

I am! How can I find you?

Carol

hi all! i started july 7th, so far have lost 11lbs, next WI in 2 days and i'm kinda looking forward to it. that seems weird to say cuz before i would avoid the scale like the plague, but now it's a little exciting to see that number drop a little each wk. so far i am enjoying the food, esp the cheesecake! sweets have always been my downfall and knowing that i can have a dessert every night is a big plus for me. don't think i could do it if i couldn't have something sweet!
theatreannie, that salad recipe sounds yummy, how do you count the cheese?

It's 1 meat. Sometimes on the preplanned menu you have "2 TBS Parmesean" and then I just count it as that.

The salad is just as good without the cheese also

Hi All:

I had the same question about counting the cheese in that yummy salad. I too am bored with my daily salad and did not think to use a fruit serving in it. Great idea.

My name is Amy - 46 years old from Chicago. Single with two dogs. I just got back from weigh-in with a .6 gain but I was not disappointed because I was out of town a couple of days this week and did not get in my usual amount of exercise. Also it's TOM, so that a little bloated.

Carol - thanks for starting this thread. This is a great group here so let's keep it up. We can start a new thread every month. Should be come up with a name?? Any ideas?

Well, I am off to Michigan now to visit with family. I'll check back in when I get there. Hope everyone is doing well.

thanks! i think i'll try it tonight.

Try doing a search for Michelle Abrams - You might get more then one hit. I am located Wilmington, DE.

Send me a friend request.

Hi guys! I started on 7/2 and I have my 5th week weigh in tonight. At my last weigh in I had lost around 9 lbs total and I'm anxious to see what I'm down this week. I think this last week was a good one which I needed since I only lost 1.2 lb last week. My consultant said I only lost .2 last week though but Im sure she miscalculated because I was at 205.something the week before that and last week it was 204.4.

Anyways, I'm Kelly from Nevada, 30, single, my only kid is the furry four-legged kind. Sounds like there have been a lot of great losses so far this month! That is exciting! Let's all keep up the awesome work!

Far too many Michelle Abrams, there are about 30 of you! Whoa, what a popular name. Also, I couldn't see where most of the Michelles lived. Here is my link:

http://www.facebook.com/people/Carol-Lunde...p?id=1222666774

Hi Kelly, how did it go tonight?

Forgot that I could have just posted my link!

Sent you a friend request this morning.

Hope you have a great morning.

mornin' everyone! i have my WI tomorrow and a pot luck today at work. the breakroom is laden with pies and cakes, it's awful! i have been avoiding going in there. i almost didn't come to work today because of the potluck, everyone always wants to know why you're not eating this or that, or "one bite won't hurt!". that's my favorite. they just don't understand that one bite leads to another and another and another...i brought my Jenny meal and a nice salad and i intend to be happy with that.

Hi Carol! It went well! I lost 4 lbs in my 5th week!!! I was thrilled! My goal this week is to break that 200 lb barrier, even if I only get to 199 by the next WI. That will really make me happy!

Thanks for asking!

Good luck tomorrow, LittleWing! Sounds like you have a good strategy in place for avoiding the office potluck temptation!

thanks for the encouragement kelly. actually the potluck was today, just finished. thankfully there is another lady that is doing WW, so we had our lunch together AWAY from all the tempting stuff. did way better than i thought i would considering my huge sweet tooth. actually i really didn't miss it, especially after seeing everyone groaning about thier over stuffed bellies! *tee-hee*

Great for you!!! It feels good huh?

Gah I know how hard that is. I was invited to go to a wine and cheese party a couple of weeks ago. The hostess also makes these amazing cakes and she made one for the party! I was like "Sheesh, just add some sushi and some ice cream and you will have ALL my weaknesses covered!". lol But I brought my peanut butter bar with me and had that for dessert and drank on my water bottle. It felt great to resist the temptation and NOT have to hide from my scale the next morning. lol

I used to work in offices that always, always had junk food in the kitchen. I'm happy that where I work now, my biggest temptation is the red vines calling to me from the vending machine down the hall.

And you will feel so gratified for resisting when you have your weigh in tomorrow! *high five*

so I am officially a slow loser, just .4 this week, so exactly five pounds in five weeks. I was in a car accident last week and so couldn't exercise, that is part of it. It felt to me like a larger loss, but hey, I'll take it. It put me at halfway because my goal was to lose 10.

WI this morning, down 6 lbs! woo-hoo!

Congrats! That is just fantastic news!

Congrats on the 6 lb loss LittleWing! Way to go!!!

And Carol...Congrats to you too!!! Any loss is good loss, but I know how disappointed you can feel when you haven't lost as much as you wanted to. But I think an average of a pound a week is great since your goal was 10 lb! Great job!

Sorry to hear about your car accident, though, hope you're ok!

oh thank you, actually I was injured and have chiropractic treatment and massage, plus I got like a post-traumatic stress disorder in which I couldn't stop hysterically crying for the last couple of days and a therapist recommened to go to ER immediately, which I did yesterday and they started me on xanax temporarily. Not a good week!

All right, it is time for some of us to report in on how our sixth week has gone. Can you believe it? We have made it six weeks! I have not been too on program due to my post traumatic stress disorder after the car accident. Sometimes I have just lost my appietite (now you KNOW there is really something wrong with me!) and I havn't been to the grocery store in a while so last night had the same as my family, burgers, shakes and french fries that I picked up on the way home from work (much smaller portions than they had, I think I finished one half of my hamburger). So tomorrow is my weigh in. Hope to hear from some of my fellow travelers that began this journey at about the same time!

Carol

I didn't lose this week- I think I actually put on a couple tenths.

I think I need to start paying more attention to what I'm eating. I think I've been making a few little mistakes in my meal planning that have added up to more calories than I thought.

I also am going down to the 1500 calorie menu a couple of pounds early.

I feel a bit bad because I got pissy with my JCC and it was our first week together. Because of things at my center she is the 4th JCC I've seen in 5 weeks, but I'll be able to see her from now on.

Here's to a better week- totally on plan!!

Hang in there. I gained .6 last week and then was able to make up for it this week with a 2.4 lb loss. That was even with 5 days traveling and food on my own. Sometimes our bodies like to be fickle. It must be frustrating to go through so many counselors, but I hope you found one you like and can work with. It's a fine line because some are just pushing the food while others are too cheerleader and nothing else. I guess it does take some trial and error to find one that clicks.

What calorie plan are you on now? I did not know JC had one over 1500 calories. Are you just adding more of your own foods? Like fruits/milks, etc?

I am on 1500 and somedays it seems like too much. Other days I realize my fruit portions are too big (oops I just ate a whole pint of raspberries.). But, I try to make up for it with excerise. Are you doing any exercise?

Hope this week will be better.

There is a 1700, 2000, and 2300. I'm sure there are also modifications for menus beyond that level on a case by case basis.

I'm hanging in there. I had the urge to just say f*ck it last night and go off plan, but I didn't.

There are a lot of good things happening in my life because of the diet & exercise, it's just hard to focus on them when the numbers aren't working out the way I expect.

I'm exercising quite a bit. Cardio 5 days a week, weights 2 times a week & Yoga 1 time a week. I know I may be building muscle and all, but that doesn't really explain it all.

This a'int my first time at the rodeo. I'll keep working at it and figure out what isn't working.

Hi guys!!! Last night was my 6th week WI. I'm down another 2.8! Woot! I was a little nervous to talk to my JCC though. So far on the plan I've been really strict with myself and have not allowed myself to go off menu except for a couple of small slips (I thought SF hard candy was on the free list) but last Saturday, my friend and I made chocolate cakes from scratch (she loves desserts) and when they were done and frosted, I had 1 bite to see how the one I made turned out. So even though, realistically, I knew that one bite wasn't gonna prevent me from showing weight loss for the week, I was still nervous to step on the scale. I was still nervous to confess to my JCC.

But all in all, having been confronted with a gooey, homemade, triple layer, chocolate cake, I feel pretty good that I held myself to only one bite. I also managed to stick with drinking club soda w/ lime while hitting the town with my friends a couple of times last weekend.

It's funny how when you are trying to lose weight it seems like there is someone around every corner offering you food.

How was everyone else's week?

Annie...Good for you in sticking with the plan! I've been tempted to go off plan too. You get to craving something specific and the food in the freezer just ain't it! lol Fortunately those have been few and far between.

But hang in there...I think you're doing awesome! I remember when I first joined and came to the boards and being so amazed (and maybe a tad jealous) at the amount of weight loss you were posting each week. I think I even pouted about it a little bit to my JCC! lol

I just came from WI and had my largest loss ever in one week! I think it was 2.4? Anyway, I have had so much anxiety this week from my post traumatic stress disorder that I have lost a lot of appetite, too. No fun at all, but I guess good for weight loss. This gives me a total of 7.2 for six weeks, and I am very happy. Yesterday someone noticed, yah! My original plan was to go for 7, then i thought perhaps 10, but I think about another 1.4 or so for 8 and a half would be terrific. Will see how this week goes, best of luck to us all. JC is GREAT!

Ooh good for you Carol!!!

I know how PTSD goes after car accidents. I was broadsided in the middle of an intersection near my house by a 16 yr old (who had just gotten her license that week) running a red light. I suspect she was texting. Nearly totaled my car but fortunately neither of us was hurt. I had a bad panic attack while I was trying to call the police. It was awful. This was almost 2 years ago and I still have mild anxiety going through intersections but at least I don't still shake or panic when I get into my car.

Hey, thank you soooooo much for the support. Do we have the same goal? 155? How tall are you?

Hi everyone,

I kind of lost our thread for a bit. Obviously I didn't look hard enough!

I went camping earlier this week with my ILs and was able to stay on plan. My one divergence was one corn on the cob with a tiny amount of butter. all in all, I did very well given they brought out cake and chips as a mid afternoon snack and everyone else was drinking quite a bit. I had nothing. And no one even noticed, it was perfect.

Carol, I am sorry to hear about your accident. I am actually a therapist who specializes in treating PTSD. There are a lot of highly effective self help techiques that you can use to rapidly reduce some of the symptoms you are having. One is EFT (www.emofree.com) and one is Zensight (www.ZensightProcess.com). both of them have free introductory ebook manuals you can download to learn how to use them. It may help you to feel better a lot more quickly and prevent the symtoms from becoming more permanent.

I finally bought Wii Sports Active and have been using it and loving it. Last week I had a 2.2 lb weight loss which is the biggest I've had in a week (and actually my WI was only 6 days since the one prior as I was leaving to go camping so moved it up a day). Before I've been 0.5 - 1.8 lbs.

I am really hoping to hit at least a 2 lb loss again this week but am not sure if that i realistic for me or not. I guess I'll find out in a few days! I go on Tuesdays.

Congrats on stopping at one bite! I think that is an awesome step.

I'm a big fan of having one bite of something really tasty.

Last night my husband got himself some chocolate ice cream (full fat!) at the store. I took one small bite, enjoyed the flavor and then let him have the rest.

hi everyone, had my WI today. nuthin', not one ounce! my consultant says i'm not eating enough, and i'm sure there is some kind of uber JC science behind this theory, but i just don't get it! i thought that one of the things we are supposed to learn is how to NOT eat when you're not hungry. if i'm not hungry at afternoon snack time (which trust me, doesn't happen often) or after dinner snack time (which does happen quite a bit), why should i eat? eating when i'm not hungry is what got me 100 lbs overweight in the first place, right? anyone got any wisdom that may help me understand this?

Little Wing,

Give it one more week. I lost nothing my 4th week on JC. And the next week I lost 1.2 pounds. There is a science to not losing if you don't eat enough. Your body goes into "starvation mode" and uses calories that you need to get throught the day and then stores the rest leading to no loss. My JCC said that I should wait 2-3 weeks and if I didn't have a loss then we would call the nutritionist about uppering my calories. This FREAKED me out. Same as you...I was like "up my calories?" uhhh...isn't that what my problem was to begin with?

But also take into account that eating excess calories that got us to our overweight state was eating not the healthiest foods out there. Ok, I know I was eating for a lack of better words...crap. A pound of pasta, a 1/2 gallon of ice cream, etc. Eating on the JC plan is eating a balanced diet of all the food groups.

I know it's hard to understand...I still have a hard time wrapping my head and thinking around it.

Give it another week. And remember that if you are exercising more then you had before you joined JC, then you need more calories to exercise, get through the day and lose.

Please continue to check in here and let us know how you do next week.

Have a good night,
TK

thanks for the encouragement. i'm hanging in there. i made up a menu for the week on the etools thingie so i can be sure i am eating everything i am supposed to. come to find out i have been missing a few things, mostly the extras that you add to some of the JC meals (didn't know i was supposed to do that!). i hope this helps. all i know is that i can't go back to the old way. no matter how much i loved my nightly 1/2 gallon of double choc chip, it was killing me in the end...

@ Carol: I'm 5'10 and while I'd LOVE to be 155, I'd definitely be happy anywhere between 155 and 170. I know everyone says this, but I really am big boned. lol If I were 0% body fat, I'd still weigh 131. The dietitian I also see recommends that women my age have around 28% body fat (which would put me right around 168), but I'd rather be a little lower on that but still in a healthy range. But even when I weighed 155, I was still a size 8.

@ Annie: Thanks! Yeah it was tough resisting. lol But then that one bite of super sugary cake nearly sent me into sugar shock. lol I hadn't realized it but sugar does not make me feel good. It leaves a really bad taste in my mouth. I think I ate tons of sugar before JC without even noticing. Of course I still eat some sugars in the meals and snacks, but not nearly the amount I used to.

@ Littlewing: I think part of the reason JC works is that you eat so frequently throughout the day, you don't end up getting so hungry and binging later. I totally know how you feel, though. Its been hard getting used to eating so many times during the day, but I NEVER get hungry at all. And before, I only ate 3 meals a day and maybe a snack, but I used to get so hungry before dinner I would go and order a ton of take out, well beyond what I needed, and eat it all. When I first started the program, I was feeling really guilty because I felt full all the time. And to me that was counter intuitive. How can you lose weight if you're stuffed all the time???

@ Littlewing: I think part of the reason JC works is that you eat so frequently throughout the day, you don't end up getting so hungry and binging later. I totally know how you feel, though. Its been hard getting used to eating so many times during the day, but I NEVER get hungry at all. And before, I only ate 3 meals a day and maybe a snack, but I used to get so hungry before dinner I would go and order a ton of take out, well beyond what I needed, and eat it all. When I first started the program, I was feeling really guilty because I felt full all the time. And to me that was counter intuitive. How can you lose weight if you're stuffed all the time???
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i know what you mean, i feel like i eat more now than i did before i started JC, seems like i'm eating all the time! but you're right, i'm not hungry all the time which is GREAT! when i do get hungry it's usually snack time or meal time anyway. but i have to say i am enjoying being full, or satisfied i guess is the right word, as opposed to being stuffed. i used to hate feeling that way but it didn't stop me from pigging out and feeling miserable about it afterwards. now i'm learning to tell when it's time to stop and just be satisfied and comfortable. if that's all i take away from this experience i will count it as a win.

Wow, CarolAnn, thank you for those resources. It is funny, I am half way through a MA program to get a counseling/psychology degree. Thanks again!