Gathina

Wow! That's a great accomplishment! A lot you are thankful for I am sure!

As they say, you CAN do it "if you put your mind to it"..literally, as you are! :)

Well, I was slightly disappointed yesterday in my weight. I was hoping to see 314 again and know that I had shed every # from vacation in a week. It was 316.4.

 

I still found pride in the fact it took me a week to get most if the weight off and that I've Bern sticking to my guns,

 

I had a battle yesterday too over lunch, some cookies and some chips and cheese dip.

 

I had to get my car checked so I left at lunch from work and I had planned to grab lunch on my way bc I knew it would be a while. I did think about it but didn't really track it ahead of time. I fought myself over what to order bc I was extra hungry from having a smaller snack. I decided on a grilled chicken meal with a half sweet/unsweetened tea. I logged the pointsnfrom my phone.

 

Then went home and knew I had an afternoon close to the kitchen. Had planned on cleaning my car but rain killed that. Had already decided I was taking a day off from exercise. I forgot my head and picked up two cookies and ate them. I banished myself from the kitchen.

 

I found distraction in cruisecritic .

 

After a caloric lunch I needed to have a smart dinner.

 

2 small grilled tenders

1/2 c of brussels

Sprinkle of parmesan

1/2 c tomatoes

4 of those tiny potatoes

 

5 points left lead to cookies

 

Then I kept thinking about the dip and chips, many times almost getting them. I pressed myself to think about the problems that would create, remember that I would be indulging in some adult beverages with friends the next day. I even ate a few canned peaches......like gathina had said with a mind trick. In all I just had to say no MANY times and went to bed satisfied and without chips.

 

This morning

 

313.2 on the scale.

 

And though we r having alcohol today I pre planned a healthy food choice of veggies and chicken skewers grilled.

 

Good choices.

Not fattening at all..his good looks are allegedly being wasted on a man although he has never "officially" stated so..

YUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

 

I hope he's not fattening cuz i wanna eats him up LOL

Ok, I am going to jump in here and I know your not going to like my answer. But this is my field and I've practiced in it for 15 years so I think I have some credibility.

There are different theories of addiction. The original disease concept dates back to Dr. Jellinek in the 60's...dealing with chemical dependency. It had to do with tolerance and how eventually the body developed diseases directly related to the overdose of alcohol or drugs and the body died from them. That's the easiest way to explain it.

Then as the culture shifted and things had less of a stigma on them, new theories came out about modification and learning how to "modify" and build up a tolerance the body could handle.

the problem with that is, it's a heavy cognitive behavior approach. 99% of most problems people deal with has to do with how they interpret situations, put meanings onto them. It's the thinking process that has to change before the behavior can. And under all that is the feelings that drive the behavior. If you feel hopeless, you tend to think hopeless, then the hamster in your head goes round and round. It makes no logical sense to try and tweak a diet "your way" because "your way" is how got overweight in the first place. All diets work if you follow them. They dont work when you keep making so many mofications because you don't like the way it's done, or your worried you won't get enough to eat, etc.

Saying "I can't" is an excuse. It's the negative way of approaching it. The right way to approach it is to say "I can go into McDonalds and have a small sandwhich and be okay with it" or, as I've said here before, "I can have 3 cookies and enjoy them instead of eating the entire box and then calling myself a fat pig after".

so that's a basic answer to your post..

When I was reading your posts about your treats, etc. I was wanting to know, why do you feel you deserve a treat every day? I'm not talking about just wanting one because it's there or because it taste good, but why do you think you "deserve" one? Like why do you think you deserve a cookie at night versus feeling like you deserve an apple, a new shirt,etc?

Like is your life that much better by having treats that you feel you deserve? Why is a cookie a better treat then a new lipstick or something? Wouldn't you have more of an appreciation if you didn't have them as often, saw the scale drop more, an then bought a new blouse because you really did deserve that??

My rambling thoughts..no offense intended.

Just for conversational purposes..........

 

I was thinking about this, probably my brains way of finding excuses, but nontheless.....

 

Would a psychiatrist say this to a drug or alcohol patient or even someone suffering from a phobia?

 

I mean, I have an addiction to food, and unfair as it is I can't take it out of my life forever, just modify it.

 

But still, a lot of people consider addiction a disease, something that has to be treated at least, like alcohol or drugs or even a phobia.

 

When you deal with chemical dependency the statement on a physical level is, NO they CAN'T. Their body tells them so.

 

When you talk about the mental part of it, then its they CAN'T and they WON'T. B/c their mind is mentally effected by the chemical in their physical body.

 

If you asked someone who had a phobia of going outside.....They would say "I can't go outside." They might not be able to tell you why, but they mentally can't rationalize their fear, their problem. So, while you and I are probably like, "Just freakin' go outside!" They are paralyzed by a fear that probably feels like having a gun held to your head by someone saying, "Don't go outside."

 

Now, is food addiction this serious? Do most people who have weight problems actually have this kind of severity of eating issues? I don't know. I'm sure their are statistics on it.

 

I do know the treatment for these addictions and issues take time. It isn't overnight, its small steps to retrain you mind and body to respond differently to the stimulate. 12 step programs or what have you.

 

Sure, some people can quit cold turkey (my did it with smoking when i was born, although he started back up again when I was in high school), but did they address their issues or just push them to the side only to pop up again later?

 

I do believe their are people out there who eat b/c they can and don't care and if they wanted to stop eating and lose weight all it would take is for them to care. But I think there are people out there, maybe like me, who have physical and mental reasons why they struggle with food on a daily basis.

 

I'm as slow as a turtle on this and it well may take me years to get to a safe place, but my plan is to stay there.

 

And yes, there are things that I say I CAN'T do and believe me when I tell you, I'm not using it as an excuse. I'm either physically or mentally not ready for it and in my mind........I can't............yet.

 

With all that rant........do know I'm not picking on you or anything like that. I will say it again, I do appreciate everyone and the help they offer.

 

PS-Bob Harper is hot.

300 Calorie Dinners..excellent easy recipes..especially the chicken pie!

http://www.cookinglight.com/food/recipe-finder/300-calorie-dinners-00412000076815/?iid=newsletter-ck-072512&PromKey=XET

With you 100% on this one...the idea about "superficial" people..even if that were remotely true, the real people that matter in life don't care what size you are, even those of the opposite sex.

One thing I noticed, Brooke (and said again, with kindness) is that you said you had "tweaked" the ww point system to base it on "your" needs..letting the "points" determine the portion? I guess that would make sense that it's not working if you aren't doing it the way your supposed to? I understand the point concept now. I saw that they have a WW point forum here, did you ever share what your doing and ask their feedback?

It might be good to list all the reasons why losing the weight is a benefit..beyond the obvious of nicer, smaller clothes. Think of all the health issues that could be resolved, improved, etc. Fortunately you are young, but it is a whole lot harder to lose once you are older, so losing now is like "prevention"

You're right that most of us don't get enough fiber. Maybe I should consider adding something to my diet. I should see if lose it is racking my fiber accurately, then I can see if i'm getting enough per day. My guess is I'm not.

 

As for the self sabotage...it doesn't have to be conscious.

 

Maybe you're afraid of losing the weight and being a different person? Maybe you're afraid that you will lose the weight but somehow be no happier in life than you are today. Maybe you're afraid you'll lose the weight and find out that people are superficial and start liking you more when you're more attractive.

 

There are a myriad of reasons that you could be self sabotaging without really even thinking about it consciously. Maybe give it some thought - you might just come up with a fear that you have involving the weight loss.

Someone here said they liked eggplant. I found this recipe today for an eggplant crostini-like sandwich that had only 175 calories per serving and I'm going to try and make it..I like the ingredients and it has greek yogurt in it too. Looks easy !

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/eggplant-crostini-10000002001895/

Easy to find at almost all health food stores or where they sell Medicinal teas..

It is NOT for the faint hearted, though..best to drink at night and then it "moves" in the morning..

It's capsules...nothing like MOM! I get it either at GNC or Walmart. 500 mg Magnesium capsules, no taste at all.

 

 

 

Where do you buy this? Might be interesting to try! I'm a tea drinker and love my chai tea!

Smooth Move tea..yes, that's really the name of it!

Enema..no way!

If you really want to do a total housecleaning go to CVS or such and buy a bottle of the magnesium citrate..it's like 1.50 a bottle..what a lot of elderly people use..it's disgusting in taste but works like a charm.

Interesting. I have stopped taking vitamin c regularly lately as I ran out - but it's been months not just a few days/weeks. Wonder if that had any impact though.

 

Is the magnesium you're taking in capsule form or gross liquid like MoM?

 

In other disgusting news - my boyfriend told me I should try an enema.....um....that's an interesting experience to do yourself LOL. I can't say it feels like it helped all that much but it did um, get some results LOL.

 

TMI! I know! I can't help myself. lol

 

Maybe it'll lighten the mood of the thread :-)

 

If any of you have never read the box of an enema, i'd highly suggest it. Just reading it makes you want to crawl into a ball LOL.

I like what you said. I think the whole idea of a "healthy" lifestyle instead of looking at life as one giant diet is that you can enjoy eating more.

We've all blown it.I could down a whole bag of chips with no remorse..but it's funny when you "train" yourself to eat the right portion amount you really don't feel deprived and you are enjoying it the way it's supposed to be enjoyed.

Like I said before, not sure why one would feel deprived if they didn't eat the whole bag of cookies versus eating 2 or 3. Maybe it's better to eat the 2 or 3 and really enjoy them and savor them? I would think that would be more enjoyable than eating a whole bag then mentally beating the crap out of yourself after because you felt guilty..but that's just me.

I'm with Gathina 1000000000000000000000000% on this one.

 

You really need to stop treating yourself as if you have 0 self control. You have it, you just don't believe that you do,.....yet.

 

I'm bad with treats too, believe you me. However last night, I factored into my daily calories some ice cream. And guess what I did? Measured it. Do I feel like an absolute moron measuring ice cream, absolutely. Do I KNOW that if i didn't do that, I'd take WAY too much - YOU BET.

 

In the US our portion sizes are OUT OF CONTROL. It's not even our fault - we were raised in this "bigger is better" mentality with food and now we are all paying for it. It's up to US to teach ourselves what is right portion wise. Nobody else is going to do it.

 

Telling yourself you have 10 days to eat whatever snack per day at whatever size you want - you might as well not start your plan until 10 days from now.

 

I KNOW it sucks. Believe me, I do. I'm a carb addict. A junk food addict. A soda addict. However we need to control ourselves - nobody or nothing is going to do that for us.

 

Do I allow myself soda still - yes i do. However i'm trying to use smaller portions when i do it (a can vs a bottle; you get the point). Someday I hope to be down to even less. As for treats - well - I'm factoring them into my daily calorie count. If there's no room for them - I'm not allowed to have one. In some ways, it's motivation to do better on my meals to try to have the treat. Sometimes it means swapping out say, a carb at dinner like potatoes, so that I can have some ice cream later.

 

Hope you don't take this as mean, it's just meant as tough love. I understand what you're telling yourself inside. Despite being here, you've got that "I can't do it" mentality programmed so deeply into yourself that you're literally sabotaging yourself at every turn to ensure that you indeed won't be able to do it.

 

I hope that you will be able to see that with a little change to your thinking, you might find yourself a happier/healthier you.

 

We are all here trying. We are all here listening. We all screw up. We all get back up and get on that horse and start again. Eventually, we won't fall off as often...

I don't think you monopolize anyone's time, if anything lots of people post great tips. Besides, if everyone felt you were monopolizing our time we wouldn't take the time to care.

You have a lot of tenacity even if the scale doesn't move..that's admirable because most people would have given up and gained back every pound they ever lost. At least your not doing that!

I feel sometimes like I monopolize your time and this thread. I know I started it, I really didn't think anyone would end up reading my blabbering. But I do hope that its been helpful other than to me, despite my lack of progress.

 

So, that plan is not appealing to me as far as the food choices........well.....actually most of them seem fine. I think its more of the rules I don't like. I do actually like the structure though. I guess its a formula of sorts and I like how it works. Mainly the portions and spread out foods. I was mainly satisfied yesterday.......actually I was. I did need to eat a slice of cheese and turkey in the evening when my stomach started growling, but I came in at the exact point place I needed to be.

 

Last night, I did plan out on my WW tracker what I planned to eat for most of the day. There are 18 points left, some of which will be for my decided 'treat' (which might be a piece of cake b/c its my SIL bday) and I didn't do an after dinner snack, so we will see.

 

Here are the screen shots of my WW tracker:

 

 

If I'm going to up any points or add anything I will def. aim for more of the protein, rather than carbs or of course more veggies........then fruit (b/c of sugar)

 

I might be watching my nephews tonight, I don't know yet. But since it is Friday and unless my bro and SIL stay out really late, I still should be able to hit the bike.

I disagree with the score: Brooke=20, Sweets= -2

I told you I could be used for a case study.

 

And I do want to stop eating............"chocolate cake" I would like to have control back from inanimate objects. I think I just have to physically feel it. I felt very empowered yesterday when only had that yogurt (though 3 portions too much), but I did it. I didn't go home and eat any other form of "treat."

 

Brooke=1

Sweets=0

Wow, interesting thoughts! :) I would think because your such a spatial and organized person the planning part would be easy! :)

I hate to say this, but have you ever met a drug addict or alcoholic or was able to "control" the amounts of their drug of choice? Maybe not, unfortunately I've known hundreds of them through my profession and they are not able to. The VERY rare few that I have, they did it by telling themselves "I can have one drink and be okay with it."

Kinda the mindfulness thing.

The not planning thing..and you saying your so stubborn and don't give up without a fight..my own opinion is, if you want something bad enough, you have to be willing to do whatever it takes to get there, and sometimes that means doing something that is recommended and not what you want to do. If you were a chocolate cake addict who ate cake every day and the doctor told you that you were going do die in six months and the only thing that would save your life is if you COMPLETELY stop eating chocolate cake I'm willing to bet you could do it because you would start thinking about how more important life is than cake. Just a silly example :)

Ok, my random thoughts at 6am , time for work! Good day all.

The lack of labeling the portion is just another level to winging me off treats.

 

If you think about it, I haven't really ever eating the correct portion for treats b/c I've never seen them as something to control, I felt I deserved them.

 

So if I was eating 3 treats a day and at least double the labeled portion size I was eating 6x what I should be.

 

If I limit myself to one treat a day, but don't say......."I'm only have 1 label serving size of the treat...." that's what I'm talking about. I may only eat one serving or I might eat two. I don't intend to sit down and eat an entire half gallon of ice cream, but I might have 3 scoops instead of one......for example. Like today, my treat was Sweet Frog Yogurt. I chose the small cup, but I did fill it pretty full. I counted every point (and I had them to spare) and I enjoyed it........and the best part when I got home and had the option of eating cookies, cereal, cakes, min ice cream sandwiches, I could look at them and say, "No, you had your treat today and it was worth it." Close the freezer door.

 

So, I know why you are perplexed, but its an addiction that I'm trying to wing myself off of. So the how many per day is first. Then the portion size will be next (only having one label size serving), then I will take the days down. Its a 3 step program to not eating sweets. And it sounds good inside my head and has worked at least one day. Soooo, 9 more days to go.

 

As far as planning. I don't think it means I don't want to lose weight. I think it speaks to a bad personality trait and habit that can eventually be broke with time and repetition. It might also help when I don't have to wade through all the food and stuff my parents have in the fridge.

 

Another realization. I'm def. a spacial person. A creature of habit when it comes to spacial things. I claim a space in our mini fridge in our office and thats for my food.....I don't like to not put my food there. I despise when my mom used to come up to my room and throw my clean clothes on my bed...my room could have been a mess, doesn't matter, she invaded my space and made a decision about how it looked despite me. Same thing with the fridge, the stupid tubeware draw.........and the worst of all......THE FREAKIN LAZY SUSAN CABINET. It drives me batty that things get thrown up there and they fall over and backwards and there is stuff behind stuff that you can't see b/c its behind taller stuff.

 

Currently, there is like chaos in the fridge with garden veggies, a few half empty bags of shredded cheese, leftovers and random 1/4 full cup of milk with no lid and some earth worms for fishing in a reg. tubeware in the back. Found that out the wrong way, thinking it was dark b/c it was left over pot roast in the juices...........

 

Point being, your environment does effect more of your life than people give it credit for. I can't get my work day started until my desk is clear and organized, then I write out my list of stuff to do. Control. I don't have control of my home environment and that is where the food is...........

 

or is that just another excuse?

 

I'm having to many moments today............too much. I'm done for the day.

 

Gathina, that wasn't all pointed at you, btw.........I got on a tangent try to figure things out.

I get what your doing with the treat thing a day. I really do.

The part that doesn't make sense to me is why your not going to measure the portion size. The wrong portion sizes of the treats and food in general is what gets most of us into trouble?

You said that you would trust yourself to eventually get to the right portion size (If I understood you correctly, maybe I didn't). To me, it seems self-defeating because I thought the idea behind allowing treats in any diet was to learn how to incorporate them into your life in a reasonable way, meaning the right portion size. If you haven't been able to trust yourself to eat the right size of a treat before, why would you be able to trust yourself now? I'm not trying to be antagonistic, I'm trying to understand.

Like you kept mentioning about being deprived. Why would you feel deprived if you weren't able to eat a whole box of cookies if that's what you wanted to eat for your treat that night? I guess I don't get why you feel you might need a whole box instead of just 2 or 3. (just using the cookies as an example)

The planning thing..well, it's been tossed around here before. Almost every diet on the planet involves a degree of planning. If something is a priority to us, we find a way to make it happen and cut something else out time wise. Maybe your not ready to really lose weight yet if your not willing to plan.

Random thoughts..

Thanks. Its just sometimes I wonder if I need shock therapy to train me to stay away from most food.

 

Anyway,

 

I said a co-worker gave me a diet to look at. She is an older co-worker, but like me she has struggled with her weight all of her life (we have similar body shapes too) and she said if I was in a rut (like someone else suggested) maybe I should switch something up for a little while. She has switched to WW from this diet b/c she never intended to stay on this diet for a long period of time, just a jump start. But she is having the same problems I'm having, she is maintaining, but not losing.........and she can't exercise b/c of medical problems.

 

Anyway, I'm gonna attach the diet plan cheat sheet she gave me. She said she modified the plan and instead of losing 30lbs in 6 weeks, it took her 6 months, but she was okay with that.

 

I'm not really gonna do this plan b/c its some infomercial thing and I've read the reports online that it is a rip off though like one of you has said before that most diets work, its just that most people don't follow them correctly.

 

This encourages me to:

 

1. Go back and re-read my WW plan and make sure I'm following the program as far as food is concerned.

 

2. Be a better planner

 

3. Think about my "treat" addiction, not carb addiction.

 

Sooooooo, pretty much food is my enemy. I used to think it was exercise. But I don't think so.

 

So, I will go back and read through WW again and make sure that I correctly understand how the plan works. Having done the program several times (through the changes) I may have misunderstood or gotten a few of the versions mixed up.

 

I'm the world's absolute, no doubt, worse at planning. And for the majority it isn't b/c I don't have time, its b/c I just don't want to make time. I think I feel like I have to think about food all the time and devoting an hour or two to planning and buying food makes me just........:eek:. There has to be a system, a reasoning, a pattern..........I know I'm good at patterns if I just get into them (that's the hard part). Which brings me to this diet plan. The cheat sheet is neat b/c its pretty much telling you how much to eat, how many times a day, and gives you a list to choose from. I was surprised at how much I appreciated this. Narrowed my choices down, took more of the thought out of it. Still gave me choices though and room to breath. While I don't agree with some of the aspects I like the ............structure, I guess. Like, I hate going into a place to eat and they give you this expansive menu and I feel like I'm missing out on stuff and feel overwhelmed (cracker barrel does that to me) with choices. Its funny that restrictive diets make me feel angry, but I would prefer a slimmed down menu. However, I guess its b/c the menu still gives me choices, just not as many of them, which keeps me focused and less frustrated.

 

This is how I function at work too. I get overwhelmed when things get too broad (hints why I always talk about having to look at sodium, calories, fat, carbs,sugar etc. being too much). I have to start at the tip of the pyramid and work out.

 

Hmm, is this a break through or just another realization that will lead to a break through? Idk.

 

3. Was treats. While I'm glad that some can do without them (Ice cream, cookies) and I'm glad you have that kind of personal worth to forgo for a better purpose, I can't and won't give up something without a fight. As most of you know. So, I found it silly that I ate two mini ice cream sandwiches plus I think I had something else sweet that day too. The point being I'm averaging about 2-3 "treats" a day. This is not normal, well it shouldn't be for me.....at this time (right, Gathina?). Anyway, I talk about making slow progress and decisions I can live with and I don't know why I I just talk and don't listen sometimes.

 

I suggested to my aunt, for her soda addiction, that she take the soda out of her life a little at time, so that she doesn't feel deprived, its just something that eventually went away. Why can't I take my own advice? I obviously have a sweet tooth, so I need to take my object of obsession and slowly try and take it out of my life.

 

So, I plan to give myself 1 treat a day. I think I should save this for the evening b/c this seems to be the worst time for sweets b/c they are more readily available to me. Now portion is another concern, but........this will be a process, so.....I will allow for a 1 treat a day and put no restrictions on the portion, hopefully trusting myself enough to make a better choice. But eventually, the 1 treat a day will then get a portion control placed on it after I have succeeded with 1 week of keeping to one treat a day. Actually, 10 days, I've heard it takes 10 days to change a habit. Then the portion will come into effect...........10 days........then I will slowly start curving the amount of days. I think the final goal should be three days a week for a treat. Probably Sat. and Sunday (as I tend to eat out more) and one work day for those days that never end.

 

Anyway, I blabber on.......

 

BK: 1/2 c oatmeal

1/2 c 1 % milk

1 scrambled egg with no oil and just a splash of milk in it

 

S: 2.8 oz of tuna (water packed and drained)

1/2 c of brown rice

 

L: 2 oz (I think b/c its hard to measure turkey slices, I need a scale) turkey slices

1 cup garden tomatoes chopped

1 tbsp light mayo

1 tsp mustard

2 sprinkles of salt

I chopped everything up to kinda make a turkey tomato salad;)

 

S: 1/2 c brown rice

1 tsp smart balance

1/2 c strawberries (obviously not mixed, lol)

 

 

As you can see I'm not really following the rules on that plan, but I did try to eat like it, just to see how it would go. Obviously, I did it kinda simple. I'm sure there is great meals you could put together with what was given, but as you all know........I completely stink at cooking and meal preparation. Even cheating on this plan I would still come in at 15 WW points NOT used for the day. Putting me at 29 points instead of the 44 I'm aiming for. Of course I have no clue what this diet says about exercise, but I got a clue from a review I read and it actually gives you more carbs for snacks when you bring exercise in........I think. Anyway....this is what I had listed for dinner and the optional snack which I did add in b/c I would have been below 29.

 

D: 2oz of rib eye steak lean cut

1/2 c cooked squash probably with seasoning and butter

2 c green beans, probably with a broth base.

 

S: 2 more oz of steak (b/c its about 6 oz cooked)

1 c of milk (about 12 oz)

1 banana

1 tbsp pb (with banana)

 

I might add some protein powder and a milk before my workout to take up more points and get my servings of dairy in for the day per WW.

 

W: 60 mins. bike and weights. 30 reps of 5 sets with 5lb weights.

 

Here is the cheat sheet:

 

Well, that's good then..it means your really making good choices and thinking about what your doing! We've all done it..trust me last night I was hallucinating about fried chicken and mashed potatoes and gravy and it didn't help I was in a group work out on a soccer field near a strip mall of restaurants and we were all kinda suffering together. But we kept telling ourselves what our big goal was, how good it felt to be in smaller clothes, and all the other rewards of saying "no" to that stuff..at least "no" for now.

I meant the two mini ice cream sandwiches........bethought to myself as a was getting ready to write it ' who does that?' Exact quote. But odd that I've eaten way worse than that and didn't give it a second thought. Like I've eaten an entire tombstone pizza before....years ago....but the only reason i wudnt now is bc i wud be embarrassed to admit it, not bc i cudnt eat it.

 

Sorry for the abbreviations....tablet.

I don't use that, but have heard a lot of good things from many who do. I'm another fan of writing it down..it really does make you think about what you are eating.

I wish you hadn't said that about the Grand Slam breakfast..my birthday is next week and I love eating breakfast out! But the thought of all that food makes me sick even thinking of it. Why can't they just serve regular portion sizes!

Tonight I introduced my mother to the Lose It application. She determined that today she ate 1500 calories OVER her allotted 2100 (OMG i wish i got that many lol) with the 2 meals she ate.

 

Today was her birthday - so she went to Denny's and had a free Grand Slam breakfast (for those not enlightened it's 2 eggs, 2 pancakes, 2 bacon strips, 2 sausage links). She was amazed at how many calories she'd had. You know that you're overeating but you never realize just HOW MUCH until you track it.

 

I started tracking only 7 weeks ago and I can't believe the numbers myself. Of course tracking makes you think twice, which is good. Do I really want to enter that into my daily log??? That's what i ask before I eat things now. Before it was like "do i want that? yes i do! i shall have that!".

 

Not the same. lol

I don't get it..embarrass yourself? Huh? You mean it might make you aware you weren't measuring accurately? I don't think that'd be something to be embarrassed about if that's what you mean.. I think it'd be an eye opener and that would be really good! :)

Seeing Pcrum mentioned mind tricks and we all chatted about that before...you had said that you "weren't ready to give up some things like the McDonald's, etc. I don't know anyone said you had to give them up..you just can't have them regularly the way you are accustomed to. It's another mind shift. Eating it 2-3 x per month is different than eating it 2-3x per week.

But seriously...like , what is the worst possible thing that could happen if you determined you were going to eat NO fast food for a week or two....the way you determined to not weigh yourself every day? I mean, maybe you think the worst thing you would do is binge on fast food one day, but if you did, I bet you'd get real sick after not having it and you'd think twice about it. Just a thought..

I find i might embarrass myself into eating less....

 

S: 2 mini ice cream sandwiches

 

D: 2 slices of low cal bread

. 5 tbsp of butter

1 slice cheese

That's a grilled cheese, btw

1.5 c of chopped garden tomatoes

15 bbaked wrinkle fries

 

2 c unsweet tea.

 

 

Oh and I ate a sliced cucumber and watered down ranch 1tbsp. As a snack earlier.

 

My back is a bit better so I'm waiting on my room to cool down and to the bike.

Question, what kind of scale do you use for weighing your meat and is that the cooked weight or "raw" weight...just a thought on the protein..if this is the raw weight, it does shrink some during cooking and you might be consuming less protein than you think. I am allowed to eat a 5 ounce turkey burger (you can buy them pre-made frozen and very reasonable) but it shrinks about 2 ounces so I can add a little more protein for the meal that I am eating it for.

Lets see:

 

D: 4 oz of deer meat with taco seasoning

1 c of lettuce

1/2 tomato

1 tbsp sour cream

4 oz tortilla chips

 

S: 1 cup of ice cream, 4 vienna cookies.

 

BK: 1/2 cup dry oatmeal

1 cup 1 % milk

1 tbsp sugar

 

S: banana, medium size

 

L: 3 oz of pork roast

1 cup of mashed potatoes

1/2 c of green beans

 

S: Peach

 

Got my 60 mins in last night and I'm doing a better job of feeling like I'm getting a good workout.

 

Right now my SI joint is out of places and it is highly annoying and about a 5 of the pain scale. I can't get into the chiro until Thursday evening. So pretty much two more days of this, unless it decides to pop back in on its own. I could have given up workouts for a while, but in all honesty........it doesn't hurt as much when I workout. The chiropractor says its b/c when you are in movement your brain relishes chemicals to help kill the pain b/c you are moving and it considers that important enough to reduce the pain. Kinda makes sense right? In any sense, sitting at work for 8 hours is really gonna be painful. Too one Ibprofin this morning and I waited 2 hours to take another to try and spread it out so I don't thin my blood too much.

 

Here is to hoping the day goes by fast. Right now..........its not feeling too great.

 

Good choices.

Congratulations!

Did you find that you lost your taste for those awful foods as you got used to not having them? Taste buds change over time they say.

don't mean to be judgemental as we are all in this together, but you're going to have trouble getting where you want to be if you continue to eat things like cookies and ice cream, regardless of the quantities or the amount of exercise you get.

 

I've lost 65 pounds since the end of February and while that has been in a medically supervised program, the biggest reason it has happened is that I'm changing my lifestyle. This from a guy who for years stopped every morning for a donut on the way to work and started sunday mornings w/ pastries from a local bakery, before moving on to sausage gravy and biscuits or blueberry pancakes w/ maple syrup. Often stopped at McDonalds on the way home for a cup of coffee and 3 of their choc chip cookies (480 calories) and then went home and ate a substantial supper and then answered the siren call of the ice cream tub about 9:30 at nite. So been there, done that.

 

Finally decided as I neared retirement that I had to make some changes in my life. With the support of the diet program it has been easier than I thought. I've reached a point where feeling better and buying smaller pants is more important to me than the donuts, cookies and ice cream. Wife is on the program with me, and has lost 59 pounds in that same period. Our biggest form of entertainment used to be going out to eat. Now we avoid restaurants as much as possible (and fast food entirely) and when we do go. we take our own packets of diet salad dressing (can be purchased online) and generally order fish and a veggie, along w/ a salad (and ask that they leave off croutons and cheese or egg). When we travel in the car we always carry a cooler w/ acceptable meal options in it, so that we don't have to fall back on restaurants if we are gone longer than we planned.

 

Now for entertainment we are going to more concerts, movies, walking and went out and bought bikes (first time on bikes in 30 years).

 

I told the dietitian we are working with that I ate what I darn well pleased for 64 years, so if I only have to clean up my act for the next 20 or so then that isn't such a bad deal. I just wish we had tackled the problem at your age as we would have had a better quality of life and likely wouldn't both have had to have our knees replaced.

 

Good luck in your quest. Just wanted to share my experience and see if there might be something of value for you in it.

 

Also take a look at the books I recommended a few posts ago. They were a big help to me. Also take a look at Chobani Greek Yogurt as a breakfast option. A good tasting product that comes in many flavors and is only 140 calories and has 14 grams of protein which is a great start to the day.

 

Mike

If you like yogurt and want to save some money, I highly recommend buying a yogurt machine. Yep, for real. I bought mine at Macy's for about $30 a couple of years ago. It has 6 one-cup containers and a quart container. The initial start up cost was really to buy a box of dry powered milk (about $5), a starter of greek yogurt (I don't like Chobani, there is another kind I use) and a half gallon of milk. The machine paid for itself within a couple of months and you can add whatever you want for toppings, flavoring. And, it is TRUE greek yogurt. If I make it weekly I end up using a box of powered milk over the cost of 6 weeks, and you only use a tablespoon of the chobani to start things off..then you can use some of the yogurt you made as the "starter" yogurt as you keep using the machine.

I haven't bought yogurt in about 2 years!:)

I eat chobani greek yogurt every day now. Mine is 160 calories though - guess we are eating different ones. I eat Pineapple and Strawberry Banana. I suppose plain would be best but...haven't gone that route just yet.

 

I add 1 cup of multigrain cereal to it too at the urging of a nutritionist who once told me i needed to get more fiber. I used to eat Kashi Heart to Heart in it, until I learned of their genetically modified soy. Now I tend to stay away from it. I'm not sure if there's many mass produced foods out there that we can trust, sadly, so it's likely that it's pointless that i'm avoiding it. Sigh. lol

 

Anyway, just wanted to throw in another vote for Chobani.

 

I used to not like it as much as other yogurts because chobani's consistency was thicker - but now I honestly prefer it over the others. Big change.

 

This is coming from the girl that for years ate 2 pop tarts for breakfast at work. Stopped that habit I guess 4 or 5 years ago. What was I thinking? Oh right, I wasn't.

 

It will always be a daily struggle. I'm a carb addict. Heck I'm a food addict but i'm moreso a junk food addict than a real food addict. Trying to change my thinking slowly over time. It's definitely a struggle.

 

Here's hoping we all reach our goals!

Like the other gal said, the key is to "not" expect the noodles to taste like pasta or anything similar..but in a odd way , they did remind me of noodles. Go figure. I think it's going to call for playing a "mind trick" on yourself :)

I'm not a big fan of peanut butter, so probably would use the noodles as a base for shrimp scampi or curry. I serve my family shrimp scampi over angel hair pasta and I just eat the shrimp and sauce, but with these, I could have noodles too! I also like to make a low carb version of curry (no coconut milk, just spices), so I think this might be a nice with a curry.

 

I do like your soup idea. Let us know how that turned out!:)

The recipe looked pretty good for 21 carbs a serving. If you make it I'd try to use natural peanut butter and not skippy or something..because of the sugar it actually gives extra carbs to peanut butter. At Whole Foods you can grind your own..the cashew and almond butter is good too. A bit on the pricey side but for the quality worth it.

Hmm..ideas! Maybe we are on to something here with these "noodles"!

I found this link to purchase online:

 

http://miraclenoodle.com/p-1-variety-sampler.aspx

 

amazon has them with free shipping:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Miracle-Noodle-Shirataki-7-Ounce-Packages/dp/B004CLCEDE

 

Link to recipes:

 

http://www.miraclenoodle.com/t-recipes_preparation.aspx

 

I'm going to look locally for them, but may order online if I can't find them.

If you could post the link that'd be great as I am trying to get creative here..

What I am thinking of is a low sodium broth, some chopped celery, Chinese cabbage, mushrooms..all green veggies as those are lower in carb than onions, etc. Then tossing in the noodles. I love soup, but hate all the sodium in it. I think if it's used in soup the noodles would soak in the flavor. They weren't that bad last night, just need to be creative.

I got mine online; they have a website and some excellent recipies as well. Lots of flavor and not high in calories!

Orlando you should have no problems finding them. My package said 2 carbs for a serving size and the calories was like 10 for a cup. For a sauce I saw something for making a pesto with zucchini so that could work.

I'm going to try and make them as a soup tomorrow so we'll see how that goes.

Thanks for the feedback. I will look for them here. We have lots of Oriental and Caribbean markets here in Orlando, so I'm hoping they are easy to find. I looked at the website in the link you gave and they were expensive!! But, it sounds like you found them at a great price! My one worry would be that if they are starchy, they will start the carb cravings, but with 0 carbs, maybe that's not possible?

 

Brooke, we are all rooting for you! This journey is not easy, but I do find it a bit easier to have a support group to come to and ask questions of and to share ideas/strategies!! You have been an inspiration to me and one of the reasons I am on my bike every night is because of you talking about it!! What really jump-started me back on 8/1/11 was that it was 5 pm and I realized I had up to that point had a "clean" day of eating...minimal carbs and no sweets. Since it was so late in the day, I thought, "why not just go the rest of the night without any fattening food?" and then the next day I said the same thing. It's kind of like what recovering alcoholics do...one day at at time! To think I will never again eat a candy bar is crazy, but I can say I won't eat one today and I probably won't eat one tomorrow...

Tiffed? LOL..you know my heart is in the right place..English is not my first language and I come across as very blunt so that's what it is more likely. :) I think what they were suggesting was a higher protein breakfast as a sub. for a high carb breakfast..like an egg and bacon and toast, but not adding all the cereal and more carbs. That's how I interpreted it. If you look at Calorie King or one of the online counters you might be very surprised how many calories and carbs all that is. I don't think you should call yourself a weak person at all because that's not true. We've seen you overcome many temptations and rise above it. I think every person has to reach a point where they are just plain disgusted enough they are willing to do whatever it takes to make it happen and keep the big goal in mind when they feel like eating the wrong thing. You know how good you felt when you lost a few pounds, you have to let those thoughts/feelings stay with you when you want to eat stuff you shouldn't. Nobody said you can never have fast food again, but it's unrealistic to think it could be a regular part of your diet. No diet ever encourages that. They encourage it maybe one or two times a month as a treat, not one or two times a week.

Just my thoughts..you just keep riding that horse, girl! :)

Yep, i thought that having a bigger breakfast with more protien was what was being recommended? It was good enough bc i didnt get hungry until around 1:30 and i ate at 8ish, no snack and light walking.

 

Gathina (i know ur name just didnt want to spell it wrong, lol) i sure know by now that u only mean well. I do get tiffed sometimes from what i read, but i know that im really mad at myself for not being smarter and less weak. And that is the truth and sometimes i wonder what it will take for me to stop playing weightloss and actually be more serious. I know i try, but i also know i dont try hard enough though i have more than enough reason to.

 

L: buffalo wild wings grilled chicken sandwich with lettuce, tomato, 1tbsp of mayo (i had a packet) and about 5oz of shoestring fries.

 

S: ice cream in a waffle cone, two scoops so one cup.

 

D: im about to get up and just fix a baked potato. I have about 10 pts left so that will cover it and i will add some broccoli to it for more veggie, some cheese, smart balance, salt, pepper.

 

I hope i dont eat after this and i will motivate to my bike.

Sadly, your hubby is right!

The noodles: I like them alot! They were very cheap (like 1.45 bag) and I steamed some vegetables and added a little rice vinegar and splenda.

I think they would be great cooked in a broth with some vegetables for an asian type of noodle soup. They were were a little on the starchy side but well worth it.

I bought them at the Oriental market here..smaller towns of course might not have them, but if your in a major metro area they should be easy to find. They are in the refridgerator section as "yam noodles"..you rinse them then boil them for a few minutes..I was surprised!

Please let us know how you like them! Wow, sounds like it's worth a try!! Where do you buy them?

 

Thanks also for the information about Miami. It doesn't seem like there are many bargains there for parking and I'd only use an off site parking if I felt it was safe and reputable. My DH says the ones that say guarded 24 hour means there is a guard sitting at the entrance asleep, lol! I will keep searching!