Good for you! Going from 12 regular cokes a day (yikes!) to a few diet cokes is a huge step forward.

I think it's important that we all have to just keep plugging away and taking what steps we can, when we can, towards our goal of being healthier.

For a lot of folks, trying to make all of the changes at once just leads to failure and frustration.

Keep up the good work! :)

Some of My Favorite Things To Snack On...
 

Im on th no or low carb thing,its working pretty well so ive managed to be able to keep the carbs at a reasonable number each day.Eggs,meat,fish and fowl are trace or 0 carbs,cheese has 0 carbs,veggies have 0 except fpr the root kind.To night I had kept my carbs down fairly low so tonight I cooked spagettie with italina sasuage with garlic bread.The bag said 2cups were 39 carbs so I onlyhad 1 cup of skettie,1 sasuage and half slice of garlic hread for 11 carbs.It was real good and worth skiming carbs for but im glad I wont need todo this but once in a while.I am reading the info list like never before zero or very fur carbs work for me.

X-posted from FB
 

Weigh-in: Just wrapped up week 9 and showed a loss of 1.8 pounds. That's a total of 13.8. It's not the 3 pounds I was shooting for, but I'm beginning to see that my 2 and 3 pounds weeks are behind me.

I'm following the program perfectly and getting in great exercise, so it's gotta be the muscle gain that's slowing things down. Oh well. I accept that. I'm over the halfway mark and have 10.2 pounds to go to make my goal weight.

Congratulations!

Look at it this way....go in the kitchen, pick up a 10 lb bag of flour and about 4 cans of veggies. That's what you're not carrying around all day, every day, anymore. :)

Water!

How many glasses of water do you drink every day?

My goal has been to gradually reduce all soda from my diet. Yes, even Diet! I am trying to remove aspartame from my diet completely so even my beloved Diet Cokes had to go.

I have been drinking lots of water, the occasional half-cup of coffee in the morning with sugar-free hazelnut creamer, the occasional glass of unsweet tea (usually at restaurants when eating out) or grape juice (no sugar added!)

I can tell a noticeable difference in my skin and my joints feel happier and more lubed (dirty!).

I drink about 80ounces of water per day. That is about 3/4 of a gallon.

Water makes an amazing difference, doesn't it???

Some days I am allllll about the water and will drink anywhere from 6-10 glasses. And some days it's a mix of water and Crystal Light tea.

I actually need to think when the last time I had water...Sad, I know... :blink:

I'm a camel....

I have to force myself to drink it. You know how many of those cool, funky water bottles I own just to get me motivated...At least 5....It still doesn't help. :doh:

Matthew, my brother-in-law quit drinking sodas (cold turkey) and dropped 20 pounds in 3 weeks. That was it......just the sodas.

Hope you don't mind me talking in a stern manner to you... You need to cut those things OUT.....not only to drop weight but, more importantly, because of the diabetes.

Russell Stover makes some DELICIOUS sugar-free candy. I have an embarrassing sweet tooth, and I still crave something small after every meal.....even if it's just a bite-size candy bar. Those little sugar-free candies fit the bill perfectly.

My in-laws are both diabetic, and that is the candy they keep around for themselves. The peanut butter cups are better than Reese's (kid you not), and the chocolate covered coconut is pretty wonderful too.

You've added testosterone to the mix, buddy, so it's time to step up your game. You can do it!!!!! Just start with one change. Once that's a comfy fit for you, add another change.

Water and water again.
 

I keep a water bottle nerxt to my diet coke can,when I reach for something to drink I make a choice to go for the water first,I figure im drinking about four sixteen oz. of it a day.I also like the cristal packets of ocean diet light wich is 5 carbsa 12 oz glass but its a bit strong so I add water to it to lighten it more so its still good.Finaly I live in a place where the water is drinkable right out of the tap,the last place had awful looking and smelly water comeing out of the tap so I was buying bottled water to drink.I only drink two cups of coffee in the mornig wich will probly change when it gets cold again,if I need sugsr for anything I use splenda.Gonna miss my hot chockolat this winter.

My weight-loss
 

Hey All..

I am SO glad to see this thread! I have recently been struggling with my weight loss. I lost 60lbs over the course of a year with Weight Watchers, exercise and a lot of motivation. I have been going though stress in my life, which has resulted in a 15lbs gain over the past 7 months. I am really trying to get back on track, but I am STRUGGLING!! I was only 20 lbs from my lifetime goal back in November, and I have just given up! I don't know if it was because they changed the plan and that screwed me up, or if it just because I got comfortable. I am still active, I play on a soccer team and I have just taken up boxing. I guess I am taking it day by day, but wow I am getting frusterated!!!

Weight watchers worked for me when I followed the program, so I know thats what I need to do. I was a point NAZI with the old program. I need to relearn this new program and back to my ways of tracking again.

:-)
Starry

Propel power packets are awesome keep me drinking water all day long. on WW, one packet is 1 pt. They also make Propel 0, which is 0 points and also are good. I love the grape flavor.

I drink a lot of water...

I drink water which I call 'crack-water'....it is MetroMint Spearmint water...I have tried all the other stuff and didn't like any, the spearmint is perfect for me...it is not cheap...one could make water by brewing some fresh spearmint and adding it to water in a bottle or glass or whatever container you like...
you can also put leaves of spearmint or mint, or other herbs you might like, into bottles of water and it will do some infusion...

there are other water infused with essences I like...they are all sugar free, and chemical free...the others I like are fruit-y, a nice change sometimes...

just a water drinking thought...

of course, water drinking has it's resulting reaction so it's sometimes worth being aware when we drink the most water...

Hi Matthew :)

I'm a type 2 diabetic with a sweet tooth also, so I hear you!

A few things that have helped me....

Stevia and agave nectar....natural sweeteners that won't mess with you like sugar or artificial sweeteners will. Stevia even has a stabilizing effect on my blood sugar, so it's good for me to sweeten things with it. :| There is a soda called Zevia that's sweetend with Stevia that you might like (can be ordered through Amazon with free delivery).....and I've recently started drinking Sobe Life Water which also has sweeteners I can handle.

Unfortunately diet soda makes me crave sugar and fat and all kinds of things I shouldn't be eating....so I'm trying to eliminate even the diet soda.

The other is mindful eating. How often do we eat chips or candy or whatever our downfall food is and just wolf it down....or eat it and then realize that we only tasted the first bite or two?

When you do eat a sweet....savor it. Look at it, smell it, take tiny bites and let it melt on your tongue (sounds naughty....I know :) )...but seriously. Really be mindful of the whole experience. When I do this....I'm actually satisfied with the tiniest bits of chocolate (like the individual Dove chocolates that are 1 oz.)

Don't eat while you're watching TV or on the computer or anything. If you're eating, especially sweets if that's your weakness, only eat....slowly and with your whole self. I bet your cravings are satisfied with less.

Best of luck!

These are the kind of suggestions I was looking for, so thank you very much for that Thinker. Yes I do have to just cut things out, but I'm going one day at a time cuz the last time I tried quitting pop cold turkey it worked for a couple of days and then poof it was gone again. My parents are both type 2 also and certainly don't drink pop, I'm working on more water and less pop which I've been doing good at over the last couple of days so I know its a beginning. Those russel stover candies sound perfect, I will look for those the next time I go shopping and keep some around for those sweet tooth cravings! :-)

I've never heard of this stuff before but I love grape so I will have to try that out :-)

I know water is good for us and I am working on drinking more, but I actually have a friend who was diagnosed like 2-3 yrs ago with water diabetes (he drank nothing but water all the time). So yes drinking water is very good for us but if we drink it too much that could happen, so its something to think about also *nods*

Hi everyone......hope I can drop in like this.

Mathew, honey, I worry about your heart. I just read in another thread the changes that you want, are happening! (GREAT) then i scroll through and see you have diabetes. Please go for a walk every day, that T scares me all by itself.

I have neuropathy in my feet, both feet. Not from diabetes, from frost bite. :sock: yes, perfect! my feet turn blue and the pain is insane. Its called reynauds. When I was in the hospital (for the burns) they had me in therapy with the diabetics so I could learn about neuropathy. Going from the hot outside into an airconditioned store will set it off, its bizarre, so I always have socks on. Why am I talking about neuropathy except to say..you don't want that, its part of diabetes. (I do not have diabetes)

Another thing to warn you about is kidney issues.all that soda, and diabetes is REALLY hard on your poor kidneys. YOU have to take care of yourself dude. Your embarking on a new life....do you want to start out sick?

So go for a walk, and take water with you, and drink it while you are walking. Its the best place to start.

Water is my good for me Mantra....

I used to struggle to get a glass down. Partially because I was a Diet Coke addict, thus water was boring. I quit buying Diet Coke by the case. Now it is infrequent, and usually when I know a huge bowl of popcorn is the selection of the night.

Now, water is easier, straight, on the rocks, or with a packet of Crystal Light of some kind. I am getting about 60 to 80 oz /day now versus zero.

Vegetables and fruit are now part of my daily diet too. Learning to cook, making veggie soup with kale in almost everything.

Kale was recommended by a nutritionist at the cancer mentor program I go to. She made smoothies with banana, kale, and almond milk. It was awesome. So I now own a blender and make smoothies too. :hangloose:

Welcome! Wonderful post!!!

OK...I think I need to subscribe. In the last 6 weeks, I have lost 10lbs. I cut out the soda, and last Sunday, cut out most high bad fatty foods. I also started walking a mile everyday. I weighted myself this morning and saw that I lost two pounds, and it made me almost cry. I have been a fluffy girl for 13 years, and I didn't think I would see the scale move even one pound less. Today is about affirmation, and I believe in every single one of you who are seriously out there kicking ass. I am proud of our community and what we do to support each other within it! Thank you.

Congrats to the folks losing (and winning!)! This thread has been pretty amazing for support and encouragement and it is at the top of my 'thankful' list lately. :)

I decided to make a splurge today and went out to Whole Foods before heading out to lunch with guihong. I love me some Whole Foods but only buy certain things there for its propensity to become "Whole Paycheck".

Here's what I grabbed:

a can of garbanzo beans (I don't know if I like these so I'm going to try them. Any yummy recipes accepted and appreciated!)
several different kinds of wheat pasta
a nice sundried tomato tapenade
a sugarless, saltless peanut butter
dehydrated strawberries
2 pounds organic sweet cherries
black cherry concentrate (to add to the club soda I also bought)
a chipotle ranch dressing
some sticks and twigs (pretzels with chipotle flavor!)
more chocolate almond breeze
2 huge bottles of banana juice (on sale for $2!)
2 huge things of coconut water (I've never had this and don't know why I bought it other than it was on super cheap and I've seen a lot of people hooping about the potassium bennies)
a 4-pack of diet Izze black cherry (NO aspartame!)
dried apricots
dried pineapple
limes

I got all that for $70. Yes, really.

A lot of it is stuff I've been wanting to try so I went ahead with it. I think it's super important for me to keep the food interesting and entertaining. I get bored very easily eating tuna fish and salads every week so having some pretzels or something interesting to drink will make all the difference.

I'm still completely off the sodas and I have to say, it's not nearly as bad as I had thought. Granted, I've been slowly tapering off but I'm almost 4 months clean off the Diet Cokes!! WEE!

I appreciate all of you talking about your "process". I think that has been the single-most helpful thing for me in this entire thread. :bunchflowers:

P.s. I also went to my favorite thrift store and picked up a huge gaggle of low-salt/low-sugar/low-calorie/vegan/healthy eating cookbooks.

There was a special with buy 4/get one free AND they were already half-price. I might have indulged. A lot. :|

Today was my weigh in day for WW. I was getting myself all keyed up for a big loss on the scale. I have noticed I can already fit into some things I wasn't really comfortable in even just two months ago and my jeans are loose! At the meeting the scale only showed a 1lb loss so I admit I was a bit disappointed. I realized as the day went on it wasn't that big of a deal. I've continued going to the gym and a diligently tracking my points and staying on target. And I know I'm doing all the right things.
Next week is SD Pride and I realize that sadly I will not be a size 34 with abs of steel by then! It's ok I realize that it took awhile to put on these extra pounds and it will take a while to lose them. Tonight I relaxed and had a glass of wine and even had dessert. Tomorrow I will be hard at it again counting points and eating healthy.
I hope everyone is hanging in there and working their program, stay strong friends!

To morrow is my weigh day,as sick as ive been the last couple of days I may have lost a fue from hanging out in the room down the hall.Ive been on this change of diet for nearly a month so havent had heavy starches at all,so a couple of days a go I had a small serving of skeiit with meat balls...no prob when I at it but give it a day or so it was on revenge mode.Im not shure if it was the starch in the skettie or the red sause..im not toughing either again.Since I changed the eating habbits I have less and less stomach probs as it has gone on,I also had a bad reaction to kashi cinnamaon cereal why I dont know..its in the trash.Anyway im getting better and should be ok by monday so I can go to work feeling some what well.Its nice not to have stomach pain and discomfort like I had before.

I agree with you 100%, and after all of these years of not taking care of Myself its about high time that I do. I'm at an exciting time in My life, increase in T and possible surgery in the future, but with that I need to work on taking better care of Myself. I have been doing alot of things lately that I never did before, including a good number of chores around the house (I was always so used to just sitting around, its taking getting used to). But I have to admit I'm proud of Myself for cutting down dramatically on My intake of cola over the last couple of days, have gotten out for a couple of walks over the past 3-4 days and have not allowed Myself to just sit down and do nothing.

Little changes, but I'm proud of Myself :-)

Water is the one thing I can't seem to get used to drinking, even the flavoured stuff. I'm working hard on just getting the stuff down but I just tell Myself to simply drink it, I may not like it but if I want to work on getting healthier I just have to do it. I've been wanting to get a blender for awhile now, and I think now the next time I have extra money I will invest in one instead of wasting it on cola and chocolate as well as other things that are bad for Me!

I think this is one of My biggest problems, I'm so used to being "fluffy" that I've been sabotaging My attempts at weight loss just cuz I'm afraid of big changes. I'm working on this because I don't want to end up having something bad happen to Me, all because I was too stubborn to actually do the work ....... slowly but surely I'm getting there, and it feels pretty good :-)

Sounds like you got alot of good things, and thats not a bad price to pay for everything. Congrats on being off the Diet Cokes, I'm still working on being off of the colas too but I'm starting to slowly ween Myself off them. Its a slow process since I was drinking almost nothing but pepsi all day everyday, but even just small changes are good :-)

I know its very easy to get discouraged when there is either no weight loss or only a loss of a pound but even just a pound means thats a pound less than you had before. I know for Me personally I get discouraged easily but I'm trying not to, any small victory is a greater part of a whole new Me and thats most important. As long as your doing things right and sticking to what you need to do, you will be successful :-)

Weigh-in today revealed a 7-pound weight loss.

I have significantly increased my activity this week. Before I started paying attention, most of my day was spent in an office chair - either at work or here at home. As part of my "reduce stress in all areas of your life" crusade, I am working 20-less hours a week at my job (still working 50 though!) which means I have more time for other stuff. Part of that "other stuff" has meant time with the treadmill, working on household projects, a little fishing (YES, I love to fish), and more general outside time.

I had thought that reducing my stress would mean hours laying in that biggo recliner that I complain so much about and reading or snoozing. There has been a tiny amount of that but I have discovered that I'm a "busy" person - as in, I like to be "doing something", whether in a chair or up around the house. I don't really know how to relax all that much by traditional standards so I've been taking advantage of my extra time and energy this week. It's apparently paid off.

I've been doing treadmill for about 20 - 25 minutes a night. I'll probably switch back to my bike this week just to keep it interesting.

I pride (?) myself at being a Loner...I think it is not so good, and nothing for me to be prideful of...

I am close to 100 pounds less than I was many years ago...still I am not small, just smallER (I have the last 15 pounds to lose and they are the most challenging I find)...being smaller is comfortable and fun and good for me, and it is scary and exposing and complicated for me...

(oh, this Isn't the bare your soul to internet strangers thread??)

all the nina-babble aside, I feel, this morning at least, that in a few days I want to, and will, take charge of what I am eating...there are Reasons I need and want to do it and there are reasons, I need and want to do it...

I did join WW on line a month or so ago...even bid on, and won, a points calculator on ebay...I have a big book of what foods equal what points...sad truth is that I don't do things by format...I should, and wish I did, but I know I won't...my goal is to do it by nina-matt...I will take the basics and see what I can do with it all...mostly for me I need to eat on a regular schedule and eat more protein...I wait way too long in between eating and then I am too starving to eat and it's a whole ugly cycle...

I think I am going to be in a one way competition with Medusa...she won't know, but I will...perhaps it will be less 'competition' and more inspiration 'n stuff...

I really do admire folks posting and being kind to others and kind to themselves by honoring and nurturing the earthly body...

Cake is my weakness too. Actually anything that contains sugar or carbs. I'm an emotional eater so if I get depressed or sad I will eat massive amounts of sugar. Therefore in order to approach healthy weight loss I have to have a spiritual and emotional plan. Lots and lots of meditation. Lots of days waking up and pushing myself in the right direction. Sometimes I get tired of the up and down. I can gain 20 pounds rapidly.

What has been working for me quite well is eating every 3 hours. I started with eating whatever I wanted but no more then 8 oz but every three hours. Then I focused on what I was eating. I can't get into diet foods and I rarely drink diet soda any more. I cant keep bad things in the house. I have zero will power. But I can eat every three hours and when I'm busy Healthy Choice makes quite a few 8oz healthy frozen dinners. I also juice using green veggies. This give me quite a kick and easy to pick stuff from my garden. I may not have time to prepare it properly but I can juice and guzzle.

I also buy 8oz containers and keep food ready to eat. It can be rice and beans or anything. Even ice cream! But I try to make wise choices and things that will sustain me because I know I'll get hungry. Beans are great for filling you up and keeps you healthy.

But the most important thing for me is to be active. Sometimes I get really busy with my blogs and online work that I have to hire people to help around the farm. Every time I do I gain weight. So now I wake up at 5am, drink coffee and try breaking my work up throughout the day. Even if it's walking across the lawn to water some flowers or pull a few weeds. I have to stay moving.

But I honestly swear by juicing and consuming as many fresh green veggies as you can. Some more then others. The micro nutrients will push you into high gear. Within a few days you start feeling better and over time you naturally see and feel a shift. The more live your food the better.

Woot!

I had posted in another thread about these a while back but wanted to re-share.

These bottles are awesome:

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Base-Brands-16-Ounce-Reduce-WaterWeek/dp/B001QVGEBQ/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1310318745&sr=8-3"]http://www.amazon.com/Base-Brands-16-Ounce-Reduce-WaterWeek/dp/B001QVGEBQ/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1310318745&sr=8-3[/ame]


They are plastic, reusable water bottles that are bpa-free and sit neatly in that little caddy thing. These are showing $20 on Amazon.com but I got mine (3 sets now) for $5-$7 for each set at TJ Maxx. :) (which made my cheap little heart go pitter-patter)

Also, Target has the exact same size/shape/everything water bottles right now for 1.99. They aren't the "Reuse" brand but they fit the caddy and are great to help rotate.

Just having these bottles filled and cold in the fridge has been a HUGE help when I want something "convenient" to drink!