[Gemme]

Originally Posted by Arwen

This is hard to write.

I weigh exactly what I weighed at the start. EXACTLY.

I am told my diet sodas are bad. I just do not know if I can ever give them up. I'm only drinkiing 2-3 a day usually. I will try to bring that down. I do not want things with aspartame in them. That stuff makes me really yucky all over.

I know where my problem lies. It's in the portion control. And in the lack of exercise. I have taken to parking farther away from anything I am going into (including work) when I can and when the weather isn't hideous.

I'm thinking about buying a bike but I do not know the FIRST thing about that. I just want a bike I can ride around on. I don't need a fancy-schmancy thing. Just an old ladies bike with a basket. The grocery store is close enough. I could bike there. I could even bike to work by taking th (Cre back roads.

All three of my jobs keep me at my computer a LOT. I swear I can feel my butt spreading out as I sit here.

And for the record, Diva, I could tell you'd lost weight. I'm sorry for not saying anything. I've had it ingrained into me that it's "bad" to mention as if I'd noticed your weight in the first place. So I do apologize.

Start to bring in other beverage options as you begin to lessen the diet sodas. They aren't completely evil, so one now and again won't hurt you too badly. I use a lot of the drink mixes (Crystal Light when they are on sale, Wally World or other generic is the same stuff) to help me and I get a lot of flavor while upping my water intake (always a good thing). Having plenty of water in you helps to push the hush puppies through, yanno? White grape is my favorite thus far. I also drink V-8 Berry Blend, but I dilute it as much as I can tolerate with water. The same for oj and apple juice and other non-carbonated drinks. Sometimes, it's not the soda thing so much as the "I need carbonation NOW!" thing. So, maybe a ginger ale or spritzer or something might help.

You know how you know things but don't KNOW things? Yeah, that's portion control. A size of meat shouldn't be larger than a deck of cards. Good sized fruit (oranges, apples, etc) about a fist. Natural sweeteners are better, so keep honey nearby. Most times, a cup comes out to be a handful (literally, a hand full only!) of whatever. I've started to really crack down on the portions and things like the salad dressing killed me at first.

I like a little salad with my dressing, if you catch my drift. Well, 2 TBS (the usual serving size) goes awfully fast. I've learned to put one in and swirl it around and eat some down before adding the next. I had a huge salad for breakfast thing morning and had 3 TBS but it went into 3 cups of lettuce and spinach, a whole pepper, tons of cherry tomatoes and a sprinkling of the last of some bacon bits. I got some salad spritzers on sale too, so I'll play with them soon too. Ten spritzes is a serving and the servings come out to 10-15 calories. Not too bad!

As for those on odd schedules and/or victims of the nighttime munchies, I feel you. I tend to eat more as the day progresses too. The breakfast I mentioned? That was at noon. Lunch was at 5ish and dinner before 9pm. An evening snack at 11pm is not uncommon as I get off of work at 11pm. You just have to adapt your eating schedule to your working/sleeping schedule. I try to eat more during the first two meals and eat better for me, less calorie options later on. My midnight snack was a snack size bag of air popped kettle corn. 60 calories. Woot!

It takes some planning and work, but once we all get a hang of it, we'll be fine. For the record, I haven't dropped a lot of weight and I don't anticipate doing so (though I'd love to). My body has pretty much stuck in the same part of the scale for years now. I do, however, notice a difference in how my clothes fit and how I feel. When I eat poorly, I feel it. The bloating, the overfull feeling (which I am growing to not like), and the sluggishness just aren't worth that last cupcake to me. Or that bowl of ice cream. Right now, I have 2 1/2 half gallons of ice cream in my freezer. Two are still in the wrapping and the other, while tempting, does not push my eat me NOW buttons like it used to. As my honey says, the less of the junk I eat, the less I will crave it.

BTW, did any of you know that many French eat dessert first? Know why? Sugar stimulates your appetite. So, I try not to eat super sweet stuff at the end of the meal anymore or, if I do, I brush my teeth or pop some sugar free gum in real quick. I'm less likely to shove junk in if I'm minty fresh or my mouth is otherwise occupied. Kissing your snookums is a good mouth distractor too!