I really appreciate the honesty and openness so many offer in this thread.

Many of us have or had the same struggles with eating and food.

For me, I simply can't look at it as deprivation. I already know what everything tastes like because I have eaten it all! In a moment of eating, almost to me as though it were a drug but after it is gone, the self-loathing is/was tremendous. I have great empathy for those that deal with their own demons of alcohol and drugs because in some way, my relationship with food has been a similar struggle. We just can't stop eating altogether which makes our struggle a little different.

I just can't go there again. I am dealing with so much in my life that I can't afford one more thing to feel badly about myself. Control over my eating is about the only power I feel I have right now. I feel if I give that up-I am lost.

It is not deprivation for me. It is working to give myself the gift of health

hello everyone!

Boy I miss this space! It is always filled with such positive energy!

Crockpot recipe made my tummy rumble! Sounds yummy!

My healthy lifestyle is on track. I gave myself 1 unhealthy dinner a week to keep from goin nuts and it works! Feel good. Havent weighed myself in weeks but can feel a change. I am no longer out of breath running up and down stairs at work :) that feels good!

Trying to come back often! Hope everyone has a great hump day!

Great, great job! Congrats!

Only 5 left? That is awesome!

Gosh, all of you guys work really hard. You are an inspiration!

Ok, getting on that eliptical now...4 days out of 4!

Good morning everyone :)

I've been struggling (and occasionally giving in a tiny bit) with some emotional eating this past week, but am still following my eating plan as faithfully as I can and finding that, overall, it's pretty easy to stick to.

I also jump on the scale each morning, knowing that there will be some normal ups and downs depending on hormones, water intake, etc. I find that daily check in helps keep me on track. I only have an "official" weigh in once a week on Saturday morning.

I was getting worried that my few little fails on the emotional eating may have thrown me off course, but the scale says I'm still on track. I jumped on this morning and it's down another pound...and it's only mid-week.

Plan for the day includes making a giant pot of homemade vegetable soup.....yummy, healthy, and filling. :)

T4Texas, I bring my lunch to work almost everybody. I will pack each item separately and put it in a cooler bag with blue ice. I will put lettuce in one plastic container, tomatoes, veggies, and sliced, skinned chicken breast or plain tuna, even salmon in another. Those individual packs of tuna/salmon in foil are awesome and u don't need to drain them. I will put low-fat/low sodium dressing in a separate little container, too.

I always bring a big bowl and dump it together when ready to eat. If I am running late in the morning or did not put my lunch items together @ night, which I always try to do; I have gone to a cafe around my job just before 11am, when they no longer make breakfast. I say: eggwhite omelet please, no butter or salt, fresh spinach and mushrooms. No hash browns and no toast. It is delicious and very filling. Those days I just eat lunch earlier.

I also pack two fruits & one yogurt in my cooler. That way, I am set for the day and have healthy food if I am hungry. I just think out my food for each day ahead of time.

I have other ideas but if you do not have access to a microwave, it does take a bit more planning but not impossible. Best of luck:)

Yeah, but it's been 4 or 5 pounds for at least a month now.......maybe 5 weeks. I'm truly STUCK.

That's why I had to finally just surrender the weight part of it for now and make sure I'm focusing on the good things I'm doing with caloric intake and cardio. If I'm true to myself with those two things, then the rest will eventually take care of itself.

*shrug*

The veggie soup...
 

So, just in the spirit of sharing....here's what's simmering on the stove right now...

• 1 large onion, chopped
• couple stalks of celery, including the leaves, chopped
• couple cloves of garlic, chopped
• simmering in a dollop of EVOO
• about 1 lb. of sirloin, cubed

That all got left to simmer and think until the veggies were translucent and the meat was browned....then I added:

• 3-1/2 carrots, chopped....would have been 4 but I'm crunching on half of one :)
• one big can of diced tomatoes, with the juice
• one can full of water
• big handful of parsley, crushed
• a little salt and pepper....will adjust that later
• big handful of fresh green beans, cut into lengths....all that was left in the bag but wish I had a bit more...guess I shouldn't have eaten so many of them last night
• 2 small cans of canellini beans

A bit later, closer to eating time, I'll add...

• a big pour of frozen corn (the mixed yellow and white that I love)
• a big pour of frozen peas
• broccoli, chopped
• cauliflower, chopped
• another can of tomatoes and water, if it's needed (and probably will be)

I don't add the broccoli and cauliflower early because long simmering makes their flavors completely take over the soup....and the frozen stuff seems to retain shape and flavor better added later on too.

I'd add some fresh spinach if I had any, but I'm out! :(

Acting "as if"...

I was just reading an article about weight loss plateaus and saw a recommendation to try some primal challenge......I forget the wording on it but it had "primal" somewhere in there.

The recommendation is to go 30 days living and acting "as if" you are one of those full-on, hard-core health nuts. You eat perfectly, act "as if" you don't crave sweets or any of the bad stuff, work out every chance you get, etc...

I'm not willing to try it for 30 days, but I'm gonna give it a shot for one week starting this Friday.

I'm going to miss my sweet potato chips.

Good Morning Everyone,

I had a small piece of pork chop, brown rice and yellow corn for dinner lastnight at work. The people in the cafeteria like to pile food higher than you head on the plates...I just ask them to give me one small scoop of rice and extra veggies.

I have noticed that since I am coming home after midnight, that I am starving and I don't want to eat anything that late at night. I am going to bring my string cheese with me and maybe have one if I can around 9pm and see if this helps. For our international food day next Thursday, I am thinking of making my family's chewie cake.

Have a great day!

Zimmy

Today's menu so far...

Breakfast:

• black coffee
• 1 slice whole wheat toast with tuna salad

Mid-morning:

• half a big carrot, raw

Early lunch:

• big bowl of homemade veggie soup....delicious

Late lunch :) :

• another big bowl of veggie soup....couldn't resist and don't need to! :)
• unsweetened ice tea (homebrewed half black, half green) with a dollop of pomegranite juice for fun
  
  Planning on a snack later:
• low-fat mozz string cheese
• olives
  
  Dinner tonight may be more soup.....or maybe a stir fry with basmati rice, haven't decided yet, but whatever it is....there will be lots of veggies! :cheesy:

Next two days will be a challenge.

tonight is a work team happy hour/dinner at a really good italian place.

tomorrow is an outing with a couple of work friends to Korean Fried Chicken place called "Mad For Chicken" its SO good. I did figure out that points for this specific restaurant are 8 points for 3 drumsticks or 10 points for 8 wing pieces. So not terrible...

i would say if you ever get a chance to try korean fried chicken... (just budget the points for it!).

Yes, that is a while to be on a plateau. I hear that when we hit plateaus that we should change up our type of exercise. If you walked, swim. If you swam, cycle. I know that you are jogging now. Did you walk before or were you doing something totally different?

I started the jogging as a way to shake things up. Before jogging, I was walking and doing stairs. I was also lifting every other day and stopped doing that when I started jogging.

I'm going to stick with the jogging. For the first time in my life, I feel I am actually capable of doing it! It doesn't hurt my knees, and it's wonderful for my heart. I'm actually looking forward to going for my next round of lab work. :)

I'm slowly making some real positive changes with my diet. I think I'm getting to a place where I'm going to feel really good about how I'm taking care of my body, and I feel better about that than anything else. I will continue trying this and trying that in an effort to drop a little more weight and a couple more inches around my belly, but I had to let go of the obsession with that particular number; it was driving me friggin' nuts!!!

Pinkie popcorn has become my savior too! I eat it during the day at school...yummy! Laughing cow cheese and crackers too! Oooo and yogurt!

Sooooo..i gave in and weighed myself after several weeks...10 pounds! Whoohooo!

2 more days until week is over!

Well it finaly happened,I am becomeing very bord with exersiseing,im surprised it took so long.It usely spells the end of doing whatever it was I got bord with.Im walking hear at home useingthe equipment I have,to be honest I need something more than just workingout to lose weight(it should be enough but isnt).Im looking for other things to do tho not shure what,they have some other activities but they are early in the morning or late in the afternoon wich dosent work cause I have other things going on then.I really would rather be physicaly working hard cause I can see the beganing and end results.Im still on my food plan and its doing fine.

Good Morning Everyone,

Tonya, I love popcorn, and I keep forgetting to pick up another box when I go grocery shopping.

Rocking, I found walking to be more fun then hitting the gym. You can walk at your own pace and I love the outdoors and fresh air.

Sylvie, Congrats on your weight loss! I have a pair of Kenneth Cole pants that I want to fit into again and once I lose another 10lbs then I will be able to wear them.

To everyone else, hope you all are having a good day!

Zimmy

Last week my son said he was dieing for some real fried chicken would I please cook a batch,so to day I did,I was good and only hat two small peices a wing and drumstick with a big tablespoon of real mashed taters with chicken gravy thats in a bag...almost as good as the real thing.I knew I was going to do this so I stuck to the low end of the carb calorie count for a couple of days so it wouldnt be such a big deal.Tomorrow im goint to the country club early before work I found out there is a nature trail about 3 miles long I can bike on it or walk,I can shower and change for work when im done.Working there has its privileges.

Hey healthy folks,

Well I got my Nordic walking poles last night and took them out for a test drive this morning. :dance2:

Where were these things a year ago?!?

They look innocent enough; but don’t let that fool ya. They kicked my butt. The weird part is it was actually easier (seemingly), and a lot of fun. It took a lot of the load off of my back and knees and just transferred it to my upper body. Much more comfortable and just sailing along. With perfect posture no less.

Of course I discarded all extra clothing layers in the first twenty minutes; and drank four times as much water. :seeingstars:

But it is surprisingly easy to adjust on the fly as to whether I was concentrating on my triceps or then to the lats, etc. This was necessary because each area would be screaming in pretty short order, lol.

As near as I can figure that just changed my routine from about 900 cal burn to about 1200-1300 cal. I’ll check it with the heart rate monitor after I settle in a bit.

Jacking up my calorie intake to compensate, but it sure was fun!


:theisland:

Good morning healthy friends :)

That sounds awesome Kelt! More calories burned, fun, and will definitely tone the upper body up as well. Sweet!

Official weigh in day and, with lots of stress and some emotional eating (still)....drum roll please....down 2 more pounds. :)

The key for me seems to really be staying away from refined carbs....sugar, things made with flour, and starchy veggies....except in very small amounts. Other than that, I eat whenever I'm hungry, including snacks. I'm not weighing, measuring or portioning really....just making sure that meals are more vegetable than anything else, lots of salad, and including more healthy oils (olives, olive oil and avocado mostly).

When I want something sweet, I've found that slicing up an apple and dipping it in peanut butter works like a charm.

I'm also no longer drinking any of my calories....and also zero intake of artificial sweeteners. No diet sodas for ages now, which has helped tremendously. I did use the Sobe Life Water as a transitional thing, but haven't had any of those in several weeks now either. They were a good middle step I guess. :)

Now, my only beverages are coffee (black), iced tea (unsweetened...and when I make it at home it's half black tea and half green tea), and water....lots and lots of water. Every once in a great while (like every 2 weeks maybe), I'll treat myself to a skim latte.

Keep up the good work everyone....we got this!! :)

Good morning everybody. Happy weekend!

Made my French Roast coffee - black and thinking either frosted mini wheats with fat free milk 130 calories OR maple brown sugar oatmeal 120 calories and a fresh fruit mixture for breakfast.

Lunch: Beef hot dog on a half thin honey wheat bun. 190 calories

Snacks: 100 calorie butter popcorn, peach low fat yogurt 80 calories.

Dinner: 4 oz leftover steak - 250 calories, romaine salad with tomato and baby carrots with 2 tbsp fat free ranch. 75 calories. Lipton blackberry pomegranate Iced green tea

Water, water water all day. .

I am researching gyms around my area to see which will work best for me. So far I found one with 15. fee for an access card and 10. month for 24/7 access. It does require a year contract however and I'm not sure I will be around this area that long. Depends on job situation. I'm thinking it is still a good buy and I want to hit the gym really bad! So I'm sure I will figure out something for a gym in the next couple days. I also want to get back to running, this is inspired by runners on the beach. I am from CO and there is high altitude there and I see these people on the beach in 90 degrees sweating up a storm running along and think to myself hmmm I wonder If perhaps it is easier even though it is hot out? So runners, what do you think? What is your preferred method of running, walking (nature, trails, streets, stairs, treadmill) ?

Good Mirning Ruff,

If it is Planet Fitness, be careful of them. If you sign a contract with them and move, you cannot cancel or transfer the membership unless you do it through the original club.


Now for walking, I love to power walk outside unless it is raining and then I hit the treadmill at the apartment gym.

Have fun today!

Zimmy

Thanks Zimmy! :yeahthat:

It is World Gym. I will see what else is avail out here. I only saw a couple of them while driving. Not sure if there is a 24 Hour Fitness in this area. I heard you can use those anywhere. That's why I didn't sign up right away. They told me it's a contract for a year, however 10. month still isn't too bad. I'm thinking on it. I can do the month to month of course but it is quite a bit more. In the future I would love to live in a place that has the amenities of gym and pool. Where I am at now I do have a pool and I make very good use of it!

Well.....I've been feeling kinda crappy this week. Friday my BP was 102/59! My blood sugar was 49....holy crap! Now im too healty!
I hadn't even thought about that I might need to lower, or maybe stop completly my BP meds. Gotta make my Drs appt this week.

Trails all the way! (umm... not that I "run"...but me and the mutt hike a heck of a lot). Trails are a good choice for running, however, b/c the ground is softer for the knees than the road. My concern would be that when I would tire I wouldn't be as cautious with my footing and would twist an ankle or something. :|

I picked up some Betty Crocker Apple Cinnamon muffin mix tonight. It is made with whole grains and is very yummy!

Zimmy

Thanks for this Cowboi....it's really important for those of us on medications to stay in close contact with the doctor, keep them informed of what we're doing, and aware that medication changes might need to be made as we progress.

Personally, I'm looking forward to being able to ratchet down the number of meds I'm on. :)

I prefer running on dirt...trails if possible. My knees feel better in the long run. :)

Running is my preferred activity of choice. Outdoors. I have plantar fascitis, so now I am an eliptical maniac. (am currently training for a triathlon in October, with no road work prior to the race) However power walking is super good exercise. My first marathon that I ran in, I hit the proverbial wall at mile 21 or so, and two power walkers passed me:seeingstars:, motivated me to get moving. The american heart association suggests brisk walking. It's FREE,
and it's great for your mind. (and your over all health) I read a post yesterday about walking sticks. I've seen them at Target and wondered what they were for. Google it! I am going to get a set. They are not very expensive and wow, who would of guessed how they change a walk. Why waste *just a walk*. Doing something is better than doing nothing at all.
I read this thread almost every day. Keep up the good work. I'm cheering you all on.

Hey Healthy folks,

Well, I took the plunge last night and cancelled my gym membership. I have not been there in about eight months, but had it on “hold” so that I could go back and only have to start paying the monthly dues again. But, I decided against it. I have consistently worked out longer and harder on my own outdoors (even through a whole winter), and have done it long enough to know within myself that this is a better choice for me. Nordic walking combined with body weight exercises is plenty, and it is free! They offered to extend the hold for another 3 months, but I just want to keep things simple. Now that is off my back.

I would like to do an actual “product endorsement”; I have used friction block for over six months now and as far as I am concerned it is a miracle. I cannot use Band-aids or anything with adhesives and was being absolutely tortured with blisters and chafing issues. This stuff handles it all, does not stain clothing, goes on dry. It’s like teflon coating yourself. Eliminated daily mini-surgeries.

Off to the beach!

:theisland:

Thank you for the information on the Friction Block. I don't like going to the gym since it can somewhat overwhelming. The Planet Fitness that I had signed up for, was in a bad part of town and even though they say, there isn't any body builders in there, they are wrong. I went one time for the whole year I paid for, and it sounded like I was in the middle of grunting contest because of the body builders. You also couldn't concentrate because they would drop the weights so hard on the ground that it would scare the shit out of you. I love exercising outside and will continue to do it until I cannot do it anymore.

Have fun at the beach!

Zimmy

Nothing exciting to report. Eating to live rather than living to eat.

I did find a new addiction for lunches and dinners that I can't get enough of right now. Costco has wild Alaskan salmon, skinless and boneless, in a pack of six cans. OMG, it is so good! Serving size is 2 ounces but since that only equals 60 calories, eating the can (6 ounces), dumping it on mixed greens with tomatoes and carrots, with low-fat dressing.

Outstanding.

Still on oatmeal & lots of fiber-yum. Weight holding steady. Need to increase the stairs and walking.

Exercise is indeed the key.