dreamingangel's Journal, 16 Apr 15

I hear you Dreaming Angel. Mountain Dew is the demon that tortures my soul. I am addicted to it. Mountain Dew has been my "coffee" my entire life. Until January 26th, I was never without a Mountain Dew. When my epiphany occurred, only then did I wonder how much was I actually drinking. Turns out I averaged about 1,800 calories per day in Mountain Dew alone. I have had to accept that I cannot coexist with it. I can't have one every now & then for old time sake. I can't drink the diet version. I simply cannot drink it. It is my heroin. As a matter of fact, today is my 80th consecutive day without a Mountain Dew. It is out of my system, but it is still in my head. It's an addiction I fight every day; especially when I drive to work & pass the gas station were my pusher hooked me up with a 44 ounce fountain drink of demon water every morning. I sometimes take the long way in, just to avoid the sensation of thinking about that first taste in the morning that driving pass that gas station causes me to have. Soda addiction is no joke. Good luck!  

Hey all loss is great! 

I sure understand wanting to lose at a faster rate, we all would probably like to. However a pound a week is an excellent rate for healthy loss. You're more likely to lose fat instead of muscle that way, your skin can handle shrinking size with more elasticity, and it's more likely that you're doing something you can maintain over the long term. So in other words, GREAT JOB! :) 

HBC & Jim are right. A pound down, is a pound down; and losing slowly has greater benefits than a rapid pace.  

Not sure how often you're weighing, or how much you have to lose, but one pound per week is 52 lbs a year -- and not bad at all. Sometimes you just have to think of the impact over time for each seemingly small loss you achieve. 

That is a very good point on perspective. Do the work consistently over time & the weight will take care of itself. 

Good JOB !!!! And had u noticed?? U have already achieved OVER 10% of your goal. Plz be sure to celebrate ALL of your successes...even the 1/2 lbs. :) 

it is all in perspective, isn't it? I had to chuckle when I read "Here I am in my 40s", cuz here I am in my 50's. Hats off to you for doing it when you're young! There's that perspective again. Also, sometimes I think "I've only lost a pound" or heaven forbid I haven't lost anything this week and start to feel down. Then positive thinking kicks in and I say to myself, well that's a pound that I will NEVER have to lose again...on to the next one. I started January 19th and if I had thought about the total I wanted to lose I probably never would have started. But now I'm at 42 lbs lost and I can't believe how it is adding up! I just keep plugging along, but that's not to say if anyone comes up with a magic pill or miracle way of losing weight please please let me in on the secret :-) 

Wow--did you read your post! Absolutely awesome! That's a big step you've taken--more like a leap! Congratulation's! 

@Jon I hear you about the Dew being a demon. I also have a Cherry Coke addiction. Where I work, we have lunches from reps EVERY DAY. That includes loads of high fat food and many bottles of SODA. Each day I have to face many of my demons. I had a Mountain Dew Moment yesterday. I could practically taste it and this little voice in my head said "Maybe you should just taste a little to cut that craving..." The little drug dealer on my shoulder? I give you props for fighting this fight. We CAN beat the Dew Demon. Every day we get farther and farther away. I never counted the calories from my soda consumption the way you did, but I shudder to think it was probably more than I now consume daily! :-O 

Thank you all SO much for the outpouring of encouraging words! I love being here. Came for the calorie counting, stayed for the support. In the past, a slow weight loss scared me because I wanted to lose as much as I could before falling off the wagon. This time, my attitude is different. I've changed my eating lifestyle for good. A year from now, I'm going to be one hot mama! LOL 

I'm a lot like you. Slow weight loss scared me. I lost fast before and got way down there, but it's back. It's slow this time and yes, I am a little scared, but my buddies on here keep me focused. You will do it. There's not a time limit as long as you are doing the best that you can.