PROVIDA SUPPORT COMMUNITY

HELLO!!! I'm starting this thread for Serious POPpers with no excuses that want to provide and receive support from each other with DAILY posts from all who decide to join.

Why?

1. I have been OP for 6 weeks and have successfully lost 30 lbs. Whoohoooo!!! One of the most important things I've learned so far OP is that this is not a diet. This is a choice to change my lifestyle to a healthy, active one. This is a journey towards a healthier me. This is a life-long lifestyle change, not a quick fix. Within these 6 weeks, my whole mindset has changed along with my changing body. I am strictly focused and have been POP and active since I began. I think I've finally hit that point in my life where this is it for me. I do not want to be yo-yoing with my weight for the rest of my life. I just don't want to be overweight and unhealthy anymore. I don't want to die from a weight related disease. I don't want to carry this weight on my body anymore. Enough is enough. I'm over it. I'm focused and I'm already living a much better, healthier lifestyle than I was a mere 7 weeks ago. I'm over the moon  with my success thus far, and I am charging ahead full steam!!

2. One of the best ways to stay focused and on track is to post here every single day. It keeps me accountible and responsible for my own change. I have a wonderful support group I'm a part of on the forums that is a group of fantastic ladies that I'm thrilled to be with in this journey. Surfing through the forums, I realized how many others are on these forums and I just wanted to reach out and meet some more that are equally committed to this jourey!

So if you're a serious POPper with no excuses and you'd like to have a place to come post daily about this journey, please join! Let's support, motivate and inspire each other each and every day!!! Let's do this together!!!  

Glad to meet you and we very much share the same purpose. I have been pop since Feb of this year and have loved being that way as you can tell from my avi. This has been the greatest plan and it works. I have seen way too many lose so I know it works. But I have also seen many who utilize excuses in a way to not lose weight. I would be honored to join your thread and hope that it will become lively and we go ahead and downward

Rachel

Hello -

I would like to join the thread as well though I am just starting on Monday, 10/27.  It will be my first time ever and I am planning on making it 100% POP from Day 1.  I agree - it is very difficult to find a POP thread here.  There seems to be a lot of great people and people that are 100% but it seems they are spread around a lot among many threads so it would be great to be all in one place.  Though this is my first time, I don't feel like I am a newbie at all.  I know what I have to do and I am going to do it!

You both are doing terrific and I would love to join in.

Thank you so much -

Lily

Hi Lily and Rachel! I'm so glad you posted here! Lily, WOW! You have done an amazing job! You are an inpsiration already! Congrats! I'm on the trail with you, just a bit behind you, but on my way to your kind of success. (I'm happy to report I earned my 35 avi this morning.) You're right. Serious POPing gets results....excuses don't. So glad you're here! Lily, welcome! Sounds like you are already getting into the right frame of mind even before you begin. Good job! Keep that mind strong....it can do so much to keep you on track and POP'n. Not to worry you, just giving some 'been there, done that' advice....The first few days being POP can be a little tough (often called 'detox') as you get the ICK out of your system and begin to purify it. Hang tough! It's soooo worth it to get through it and on a steady path. The longer you stay POP, the stronger minded and more empowered about being OP you get. It's a fabulous thing! So, welcome here and to the plan. WTG making the decision to change your lifestyle to a healthy one!!

I'm so glad you both are here!! It's great to meet you.

Lee 

Hi Lee and Rachel - Thanks so much! 

Lee - I agree - Rachel has done a fanstastic job!  I like the mix of new person and 2 successful, experienced people!  I think it will help us all in different ways.  Look forward to others joining us but if not, 3 is a great number

Lily

 Hi Lee, Lily & Rachel,

 I would really like to join your POP thread, I'm starting tommorrow and will be POP, no half measures, I did POP once before for a week and lost 10 lbs, but more than that I felt MUCH healthier, slept better and had more energy.

I let myself get sidetracked after a bit of a family crisis but have kept most of the weight off following the basic principles till I could get back here again.I am open to learning all I can from you all.

  As someone else mentioned it's a way of eating, not a diet for me from now on.

Hi Surferchick and welcome to the thread! Glad to have you here. It looks like you and Lily will be starting at the same time. Good for you both! You're both starting off on the right foot by prepping to be POP. WTG! As for me, I decided to celebrate my new avi today by doing a 6 mile powerwalk. I usually do a 3 or 4 mile walk, so this was a big deal for me! I even did more than half of the powerwalk at a higher MPH than I usually do. I found another area to walk in (I walk along a creek on a paved road, then do half a mile on non-paved which I call 'off roading') that includes a half-mile loop, so I walked it twice, adding another mile. IT was fabulous! I had so much energy today. Now of course comes the true test....will I be able to move tomorrow? LOL I hope so because I want to get my workout in early tomorrow. Ok gals, lookin' forward to you gettin' going on the plan and posting successes! Whoohoooo!!  

Sorry for not keep ing up a few days. Forum was so slow and took me hours to just download one page. 

Lily, you are right, finding one thread with 100 pop is very difficult to impossible. There use to be one that was really good but it died off. I have tried to revive it but no success so glad to have you here! You are on the right track in starting POP. It is those that play aroudn that don’t lose much and go with losing and gaining the same weight all the time. Keep this mindset!

Lee, you are doing great and I love that you have started this thread. I think we can all inspire each other!  Tell me a bit about yoruself.

Ack, you guys are making me embarrassed. I can’t say I am a success by myself, it has been with the support of numerous others and also just being able to post that has helped. Anytime Lily you need help or something, please, don’t hesitate to ask Lee and I.

Suferchick, welcome here and glad to have you!

Well, going to get off here, tired and have to still plan lessons for tomorrow. Not fun but has to be done. Have a great Sunday (mine is coming to an end) and be POP no matter what.

Why don’t we think of some topics we could discuss that can help us in beign pop? Anyone??

Rachel

Hi Ladies

I would love to be able to become part of the "Serious POPpers" thread. I started over yesterday and was strictly POP yesterday and so far today, except for the half and half in my morning coffee. I decided to treat myself this week-end and will let go of the half and half sarting tomorrow. I did the 6WBM in 2004 and lost 40 pounds in less than 4 months and have since then put it all back. I know this plan works and it is so much healthier than all the other plans, diets, etc, that are out there. I know how much posting helps and this thread looks great. You are all doing so well and are so determined and positive. I would be honored to check in daily and find out about your day and let you know about mine.

Keep up the great work and have a wonderful day.

Hi Lee, Rachel, Lily,Surferchick, and Karen.  I would love to join your group. I have re-started several times. Know the plan works if I work the plan. I need to have people on the boards who post daily and I like that you said NO MORE EXCUSES! That is my motto. I will be starting on Monday Oct 27 (tomorrow) and have all my food ready, my walk away the pound DVD's ready and my bands too. I hope this thread takes off like a rocket.                           Lorie

Hi Lorie

 Good luck tomorrow. Sounds like you know what you're doing and are ready to go. I started yesterday, so I was able to prepare the meals as I ate them. Tomorrow is work and I have to start preparing. I tend to get caught up in my work and don't break for lunch or anything else. That is one thing I must change in order to do this correctly. I remember when I started this in 2004, that was one of the issues that I posted, taking the time to eat every 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Someone wrote back that you need to do this for you and you will make the time, and I did.I'm definately excited about this and looking forward to staying POP with everyone here.

Good Luck, I'll talk to you soon

So glad to see everyone here!  That is great  

Today is my bday and tomorrow begins the journey!!  So excited about moving forward and great to have you all around! 

Thanks so much Lee for starting this up.  Rachel, I do notice that 100% POP isn't that popular here but for me at least, it is the only way.  I give up too easily and find too many excuses and have wasted far too much time!

 Have a great day -

 Lily

Good luck tomorrow Lily!!!!

Hi Gals! Welcome!!!! I'm SO glad you've found this thread and are serious POPpers with NO excuses who are dedicated to posting as well. I started this thread because while I'm in another awesome group that is an incredible support system, I'd like to meet even more fabulous people. Like you said, there are too many who don't think being 100% POP is that important and many (in threads) who constantly post excuses (I am NOT referring to my other group when I say this!!! They are wonderful!). And then they wonder why they aren't losing and complain. I just don't want to go there. I'm a serious POPper ready to get this done and am doing exactly that. So, thanks for dedicating yourself here! (I feared nobody would post here when I made it!! )

Rachel, great idea for us to start posting topics to discuss. I'm going to pick up on what you mentioned by asking me to tell about myself. How about if we each tell a bit about ourselves? Shall we start there?

Me....I'm a mom of 2 and an elementary school teacher. I live in California and in fact am a California native and have lived here my whole life. As for my weight, I was an active athlete the first half of my life. I played on teams and was active year round. I even started my days getting up early to get jogs in before school. It was after the birth of my son that I really put on tons of weight. During the pregnancy of my daughter I went from 165 to 225 (Geez and I thought THAT was a massive amount of weight to gain! Boy did I have another thing coming!). I lost the weight about 2 years after having her. I knuckled down finally and lost it. Then, during the pregnancy of my son, I ballooned to 276...OH MY!!! I guess I truly took advantage of eating for 2, but really it seems I was eating for 10! It's awful when you give birth to a 8.7 lb baby and are left still weighing 270ish! I kept that weight on for a while. When he was 10 I lost weight and got down to 204. Then, I ballooned up to my heaviest weight ever of 327. One could say I liked my food. I was a crap-food-aholic who ate just about every meal out or driving through all the fast food joints. I was also a soda-holic. I drank several huge sodas every single day.  (It makes me sick now to think of that!) Water? Yeah right! I wasn't drinking any water, unless I counted the ice cube in the soda!! Well, I finally got to the point where I can now honestly say I'm over it!  I DON'T want to do this anymore. I am NOT going to spend the rest of my life battling my weight. I also don't want to die due to a weight issue. I can no longer say I am carrying around baby weight (well I could, but my baby is now 18 years old!!! lol). I want to be healthy and LIVE my life NOT being limited by my weight. So, on September 8, 2008, I dedicated myself to making a new, healthy lifestyle for myself that will last the rest of my life. On Sept. 8, I stopped drinking soda and eating crap food and got my big butt moving with exercise. I have committed to myself to be POP, exercise regularly, post daily, and to JUST DO IT. My results so far speak volumes about my committment to myself....35 lbs lost in 7 weeks. I'm so excited over that, it keeps me going, going, going each day! I'm loving it!! I have NO desire at all to go back to my old ways. They are a thing of my past. I'm a POPper now!! 

Ok, so that's a bit about me.

How about you gals? 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LILY!

 melonhead nice to read a bit about you, I have a soft spot for teachers as I have worked with quite a few and boy do they work hard!

 hope you had a great birthday Lily :)

I'm SO glad to have found this thread.! I cooked some chicken yesterday and stocked up on green veggies ready for the week ahead.

here's a bit about me. I'm 45( 46 end of next month) married, I have two adult kids, one at uni and one at home and I live in Australia, NSW.  I work for myself as a therapist and I work 4 days a week in my office, and one day at home (today!) doing the paperwork admin side of it all.

I tend to use my work hours as an excuse not to eat right , but the honest truth is that I have no-one to blame for my work schedule but myself. (excuse #1 debunked!)

I was chubby as a teen and dieted severely (it was very unhealthy!) to lose a few stone which I maintained until after my second pregnancy. I weighed 196lbs by the end of it and had a 10lb baby, It was really hard to lose the weight and yo-yo-ed up & down for the next 7-8  years I would lose some weight and then gain it plus some more, my weight yo=yo-ed between 170 - 200 lbs in that time.

I tried all the diets out there, I'm sure some of you know what I am talking about!  I just always seemed to be taking care of everyone else and not myself and I paid the price for that choice eventually when I got really sick.

About 13 years ago I started losing weight, at first I was thrilled, but my weight just kept dropping and dropping in the end I reached 108 lbs and I was trying desperately to gain weight as I looked like skin and bones and felt awful,  eventually, after three years of a lot of illness, investigations depression and doctors who just said it was 'stress'!  they diagonosed me with ceiliacs disease & mutliple allergies.

By that time I had already quit my job as I was much too sick to work. I didn't work for four years altogether, my health was shot.

I did get well though, once I decided to put myself first and do whatever it took.  my diet was strict but I did it and the results were amazing, within weeks of the right diagnosis and allgery testing I started to improve. I got back to a healthy weight and maintained it for about 3 years while I went to college as a mature aged student to retrain as a psychologist.

Once I finished college (3 years ago)  I started putting extra weight on and not eating properly, skipping meals and not exercising. I also had a huge family stress over the last 2 years ( husband lost job, mum with alzheimers, big financial pressures) and the stress of all this has caused hashimotos thyroiditis so now I am on thyroid medication. my doctor had told me I have to lose weight as I am high risk for early onset Alzheimers disease ( both my mum and grandmother had it), diabetes and other health problems.

I have felt frustrated that after getting really healthy years ago I got off plan but now I have no time for regrets, I'm just focusing on one day at time and letting go of the past.

So here I am, ready to regain my health.  If you see me making excuses please call me on it! I need some people to help me keep honest and accountable on this new healthy lifestyle. I love this plan because it is filled with the type of foods that I ate when I originally started to get well, fresh chicken and fish and fresh vegetables and fruit. I can't wait to get through detox and feel full of energy again!

cheers

jane

Hi

My name is Karen, I live in New York and I am 52 years old. I have one daughter, 22 that lives at home with me.  She  is in college. I am divorced and have been since my daughter was 10. I have never been overweight until my mid forties. I guess the stress of getting divorced, realizing that I would have to raise my daughter alone,  not having enough money...anyway, long story short, I think food became my friend, my very good friend. I was never overweight so I figured if I that if I gained 5 pounds it wouldn't be that bad, then 5 turned into 10 and 10 into 20 and so on. In 2004 I saw MT on HSN and gave it a shot. In 4 months I lost it all (40 pounds) and it felt amazng. I kept almost all of it off for a year and then started putting it back on. Off and on, but mostly on. I am now back to where I started (40 pounds over) and promised myself that, yesterday I would start again, for real! I am so glad that I have found you guys, because I know that posting really helps. I did the Rapid Results menu yesterday and lost 6.5 overnight. But I have been reading that is not the way to go at the beginning. I made my meals for tomorrow and I'm ready to get started.

 It's been very nice to meet all of you and Have a great birthday Lily.

 Hi all, i'm just checking in for my own sake to keep me on track! I eaten POP today, I have only dinner to go which will be fine. I have to admit to feelig a bit tired tonight and this is the time I usually decide to eat some sugary / carbs junk to perk me up. I just went and drank a couple of glasses of water and cleaned my teeth then I came here to read around the forum for a bit,

hope you all have a great day POP! we can do this, I know we can!

jane

Jane - Good job - just keep yuor focus and it will pass.  Do whatever you have to do - short nap etc but don't go off plan!  You are doing great!

I will update my info a little later - had difficult getting going this AM but so looking forward to getting started today

Lily

Have a great Monday Gals!!