Healthy Weight Loss

[Sachita]

This is a good article covering the basics

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/ar...1.aspx?np=true

The biggest hurdle for me is always cravings. I am the classic gourmet cooking diva. I use only the best ingredients and even though most is fresh and natural, my weakness is overindulging.

Juicing helps me with cravings, energy and healing. I might consume 3 pounds of veggies a day, all fat free and full of micro nutrients. When I stick with this I always lose faster and feel better. The moment I start cutting corners, eating to many processed foods my weight loss is slower and I get headaches and my sleep isn't as good. So when I look at my life changes and long term goals I need to keep this in mind.

Today I'll cook a steak. I eat red meat now and then and I want it to be perfect. I'll cut it up and eat over several hours. Eating every three hours works for me. It keeps my blood sugar stable too. My juicing sometimes counts as one of those 3 hour meals but not always.

I have a hard time working out. I'm trying to stay active on the farm gardening, walking, bending. I tried doing my gizelle and my ass hurt so bad. I wish I didn't have this block about working out. I can't wrap my head around making time to do something I really don't enjoy. Maybe its all in my head...lol , I need to play more.

I need to find a kayak buddy who likes to fish.

[Kelt]

Howdy all,

Sorry I’ve been absent for a bit; Wow! 4 pages of great posts to catch up on. I see that everyone is making great progress and a normal few setbacks, overall the group is in excellent form.

I hit a milestone (not weight related, just hit the half-century mark) and decided to treat myself to a 10 day road trip up through Ca., Or., and Wa. and back. This included a digital sabbatical so I have been reading like crazy to catch up since returning last night.

How this relates to healthy weight loss is that I wanted in part to see how I would do with:

a) No computer tracking of foods, weight, or activities that I usually use.
b) Limited food choices to just what I could pick up along the way and little to no refrigeration. No restaurants allowed, roadside fruit stands and grocery stores only.
c) A couple of days visiting my (remarkably still alive) parents and no real control over what they might feed me.
d) Much less exercise than usual, just some day hikes, and rock scrambling for fun; I did include these things everyday though.

I did take some precautions to give myself a good chance of staying on track. I took along my small food scale and a notepad so that I could at least record what I ate and review it after returning home, naturally. I also took along some homemade jerky and dried fruits, as well as nuts to fill in any blanks along the way and avoid stupid decisions out of plain old hunger.

My only real goal, weight related, was to not gain more than a couple of pounds and hopefully just maintain weight with no other pressures and to just enjoy the trip. A great advantage was that I was by myself and did not have to deal with anyone else’s food expectations or temptations.

Well, the results are in and on average my calorie intake and macronutrient balances all stayed within 20% of how I would eat at home, some variation by day, but the overall average was good. And, I seem to have dropped 4.4 lbs. over the 10 days, so I stayed on my normal track in spite of myself and had a great time to boot!

I really want to thank everyone for being here. A good part of what keeps me on course is knowing that I will come back here and let you know how it is going; and both receiving and giving encouragement and hope.

Thank you.

[lillith]

I feel off yesterday. I have been having a couple of rough personal days, and I broke down. I ate a Burger King Whopper and fries. I feel like shit for it. Outside of this thread, I don't have much support. My family is addicted to this type of eating. I do all of the cooking, and everyone eats, but if there is a day that I don't feel like cooking, Burger King here we come. Under normal circumstances, I am really good about cooking. I just couldn't find the energy or the want to. I still don't want to...lol, but I know I need to. Sorry for dumping, but I need to own this, and well, seeing it in words, certainly makes me have to own it. Thanks for letting me be here.

[JustJo]

Originally Posted by lillith

I feel off yesterday. I have been having a couple of rough personal days, and I broke down. I ate a Burger King Whopper and fries. I feel like shit for it. Outside of this thread, I don't have much support. My family is addicted to this type of eating. I do all of the cooking, and everyone eats, but if there is a day that I don't feel like cooking, Burger King here we come. Under normal circumstances, I am really good about cooking. I just couldn't find the energy or the want to. I still don't want to...lol, but I know I need to. Sorry for dumping, but I need to own this, and well, seeing it in words, certainly makes me have to own it. Thanks for letting me be here.

((( lillith ))) ....don't beat yourself up about a bad day. We've all had them (at least I know I have )

Sometimes, you just have to say...okay, that sucked. I'll do better...and let it go.

[PinkieLee]

I totally agree with Jo, lillith. Please don't beat yourself up too badly about yesterday. We have all been there... there are gonna be good days and bad days. Just remember, today is a new day, a clean slate and an opportunity to begin again. (((HUGS))) I hope that today has been a better day my friend.

[lillith]

Originally Posted by JustJo

((( lillith ))) ....don't beat yourself up about a bad day. We've all had them (at least I know I have )

Sometimes, you just have to say...okay, that sucked. I'll do better...and let it go.

Originally Posted by PinkieLee

I totally agree with Jo, lillith. Please don't beat yourself up too badly about yesterday. We have all been there... there are gonna be good days and bad days. Just remember, today is a new day, a clean slate and an opportunity to begin again. (((HUGS))) I hope that today has been a better day my friend.

Awww, thank you, Ladies! Your words of support and encouragement do amazing things. I am sitting here searching for words to express my gratitude, but the only words that I can think to say are thank you!

[Rockinonahigh]

Today I rode the exersise bike for 61/2 miles in 19.03 minits,I was sweating big time but the calorie chart says I only burned 123 of those little buggers..felt like more.Then I went to the weight room and cranked out a bunch or reps on several things useing 40 to 50 pounds.The guy that works the weight room says I shouldnt be useing so much weight..I says why not?! He says Well mam, women of your age must becareful.This boy must have a death wish is all im going to say about him.I contenued pumping iron a then tuned him out...he was a good boy and went back to his ipod and desk.THere were other people in there that didnt say a thing,but when I was going to the elevator two of the other people that were in the room gave me a pat on the back then said for me to keep doing what ive been doing....and I will.

[Zimmeh]

((Lillith)),

I agree with Jo Jo and Tonya. I suffer from depression and sometimes it is hard for me to go power walking. But I go anyways and I forget the world exists. If you want to start cooking healthier, I have a cookbook from Shape Magazine, which teaches you how to cook better. I like having Lean Cuisine or Weight Watchers TV dinners in my freezer on the days when I don't feel like cooking. If your going to eat at Burger King, just ask for a side salad instead of the fries. Do you have a Chik-Fiil-A near you? They are much better than Burger King.

Have a great night and you have all of us here to help support you..

Zimmy

Originally Posted by lillith

I feel off yesterday. I have been having a couple of rough personal days, and I broke down. I ate a Burger King Whopper and fries. I feel like shit for it. Outside of this thread, I don't have much support. My family is addicted to this type of eating. I do all of the cooking, and everyone eats, but if there is a day that I don't feel like cooking, Burger King here we come. Under normal circumstances, I am really good about cooking. I just couldn't find the energy or the want to. I still don't want to...lol, but I know I need to. Sorry for dumping, but I need to own this, and well, seeing it in words, certainly makes me have to own it. Thanks for letting me be here.

[Medusa]

Daily Overshare Alert!


Another small victory today: This one wasn't about battle against the food per se, but more about battling against unhealthy thinking patterns.

We had to endure a 4-hour-long session with human resources today at work. It had the potential to be super-stressful and uncomfortable for our team and many of us were wringing our hands about the possible conversations. Our unit administrator decided to order pizza to try to ease tensions. He had said yesterday that they would "provide a healthy lunch" so I didnt pack lunch today and opted for packing just snacks and water.

I kinda freaked out a little in my head when I heard that the healthy lunch was pizza because my head is super black and white about what I can and can not do on my plan for better health. The black and white stuff says I have to go cold turkey off of anything resembling pizza, hamburger, ribs, ice cream, fettucini etc. (the stuff I love!). The real me knows that it is simply not reasonable to go the rest of my life without ever eating another piece of pizza or cup of ice cream so today I turned off the yakking in my head and ate ONE piece of pizza and used my snack cup of cantaloupe as a side item.

I ate that one piece of pizza and did not feel guilty and did not feel shame and THAT is truly a victory for me. The guilt-feelings and shaming stuff usually would have meant I ate the pizza, felt guilty and decided "Fuck it, I've ruined everything and I suck so I might as well cram my face with....you guessed it....MORE PIZZA!". Self-sabotage, front and center.

I refuse to do that ever again. I will not use shame and guilt as an excuse to let unhealthy thoughts take over so that I can sabotage some more. What I WILL do is say to myself "Is eating one piece of pizza reasonable?" When I can answer "Yes, that is reasonable" (taking into consideration that I have eaten a healthy breakfast and had plenty of water), I will proceed with the food (in moderation of course). I plan to walk a little longer tonight, not because I feel like I need to "work off the pizza" but because that's what I think will make me feel balanced.

Woman can not live by salad alone! We also can not live on shame, guilt, or self-sabotage. Sometimes we gotta turn that love-mirror on ourselves and say "A piece of pizza for lunch does not mean the end of a healthy lifestyle!".

Baby steps toward health. Whoomp!

[Queerasfck]

Originally Posted by Medusa

Daily Overshare Alert!


Another small victory today: This one wasn't about battle against the food per se, but more about battling against unhealthy thinking patterns.

We had to endure a 4-hour-long session with human resources today at work. It had the potential to be super-stressful and uncomfortable for our team and many of us were wringing our hands about the possible conversations. Our unit administrator decided to order pizza to try to ease tensions. He had said yesterday that they would "provide a healthy lunch" so I didnt pack lunch today and opted for packing just snacks and water.

I kinda freaked out a little in my head when I heard that the healthy lunch was pizza because my head is super black and white about what I can and can not do on my plan for better health. The black and white stuff says I have to go cold turkey off of anything resembling pizza, hamburger, ribs, ice cream, fettucini etc. (the stuff I love!). The real me knows that it is simply not reasonable to go the rest of my life without ever eating another piece of pizza or cup of ice cream so today I turned off the yakking in my head and ate ONE piece of pizza and used my snack cup of cantaloupe as a side item.

I ate that one piece of pizza and did not feel guilty and did not feel shame and THAT is truly a victory for me. The guilt-feelings and shaming stuff usually would have meant I ate the pizza, felt guilty and decided "Fuck it, I've ruined everything and I suck so I might as well cram my face with....you guessed it....MORE PIZZA!". Self-sabotage, front and center.

I refuse to do that ever again. I will not use shame and guilt as an excuse to let unhealthy thoughts take over so that I can sabotage some more. What I WILL do is say to myself "Is eating one piece of pizza reasonable?" When I can answer "Yes, that is reasonable" (taking into consideration that I have eaten a healthy breakfast and had plenty of water), I will proceed with the food (in moderation of course). I plan to walk a little longer tonight, not because I feel like I need to "work off the pizza" but because that's what I think will make me feel balanced.

Woman can not live by salad alone! We also can not live on shame, guilt, or self-sabotage. Sometimes we gotta turn that love-mirror on ourselves and say "A piece of pizza for lunch does not mean the end of a healthy lifestyle!".

Baby steps toward health. Whoomp!

Great post and I am really enjoying your comments and everyone's contributions in this thread.
I believe what I and maybe others are striving for isn't just about being on a "diet" but trying to eat healthier overall. It's not about denying yourself everything all the time. If I deprive myself of things like pizza or a sandwich on a REAL piece of bread then after a while my head goes out of the game. "This sucks, it's not fair, it's not fun, what's the point, it's taking too long to lose the weight, what's the point, etc....." I start to feel like it's too much to give up everything and get that fuck it attitude and then ultimately to a big binge pig out. It's a fine line. As Pinkie said in a post a few days ago, WW rule #10-we do not deprive ourselves, we build our favorite treats into our program.
I think like most things moderation is the key.

Weekends are definitely harder for me. I don't have the structured time to eat like I do at work. And this weekend we are doing some fun things and I know we will be eating out at least once. So, I don't plan on depriving myself of fish tacos. But I won't get the fried ones, I will opt for the broiled ones without the breading. It will do the trick just fine.

Keep up the good work everyone!

[nycfem]

It has been helpful for me to separate "overeating" and eating something unhealthy from "bingeing." For me the goal of reminding myself of this is ultimately to see that I can on occasion overeat or eat something unhealthy and that that is really alright. It doesn't need to turn into a binge. Instead of getting upset with myself I try to sit with the anxiety and say to myself, "This means absolutely nothing bad, UNLESS I get frustrated and allow it to turn into a binge." I find it very hard to do, but it helps me to have awareness of this as a trigger for bingeing/ continuing to eat unhealthy or in large amounts for a prolonged period of time. I try and reframe eating one meal or one item out of my plan as a good thing, an opportunity to retrain my brain, to practice not operating in an "all or nothing" way of thinking. It also helps me to write it all down in my journal. I often find that what I thought of as a huge transgression was really not, and I can calm myself down and go back to eating healthy instead of feeling like a failure and bingeing out of hopelessness and a sense of not having control.

The other trigger for me is when I have been doing well with eating, and the scale doesn't show it. It's tough not to binge but to instead think realistically the same thought, that a few pounds up or down means absolutely nothing bad UNLESS I use it as an excuse to binge out of frustration. When I feel that frustration and urge to "jump ship" I sometimes write in my journal, "The only way out is through." To me this means that as long as I stick with my plan despite these hiccups, I WILL succeed. I can't do it by magic. I have to do it through overall steady commitment, even when I hit a bump on the road.

There are a few foods that I've successfully managed to cut out entirely, and I've found that helpful. I don't need to think, "Should I have this?" / "Should I not have this?" I am able to truly say to myself, "That food is not for you." Then my brain doesn't struggle back and forth over whether or not to indulge. With time and experience, my brain adjusts to ignoring what it's no longer used to accepting and over a few years, the cravings generally diminish. I had confidence that I could do this from knowing that I managed it as a teenager when I became (and still am) a vegetarian (no meat, chicken, or fish). I didn't do that for diet. I did it due to the ethics of factory farming, but it helped me in my eating because it showed me that it really is possible to adjust to abstinence from certain foods that don't feel like a positive part of my life.

When my mom had a heart attack with quadruple bypass surgery four years ago and I saw her attached to machines (She's healthy as ever now!), I was shocked into being able to follow through with a change that I've stuck to ever since then. I gave up all caffeine, including chocolate. I know that dark chocoate is healthy but I had a very hard time with just having limited quanitities of dark chocolate. I would find myself eating lots of candy and ice cream. After I gave up chocolate, while sweets have their allure, their really not as exciting without chocolate. Giving up the caffeine meant that I gave up Coke, which had been an addiction for a long time. Also, since I have a sensitivity to caffeine, I am able to sleep so much better and have less jitteriness and less anxiety.

About six months ago I also succesfully gave up "movie theater popcorn." Now I always bring my popcorn, like Jo discussed, and my drink. It also helps save a lot of money. I have tried giving up sugar but haven't nailed this one during the times I've tried, and the same goes for simple carbs (all the bad for me, tasty, white stuff). Since I can't seem to give them up at this point in time, I just try to do what I talked about in the first paragraph: Indulge now and then, and strive for it not to turn into a binge. It's an ongoing challenge!

[Medusa]

I'm glad Juney isn't in this thread because she'd probably shriek at the fact that I'm about to sing the praises of Sam's Club.

Went this morning after the Farmer's Market because I didn't find any greens there and also needed to stock up on some fruit.

I picked up a HUGE bag of Fuji apples at Sam's for around $4, 3 pounds of bananas for $1.50, pineapples for $2 each, some of that wonderful Laughing Cow cheese (the wheels that are garlic and herb flavor!) for $7.98 for 3 wheels.
Also picked up a 2lb bag of frozen mixed berries for making smoothies - $7

The thing I am most excited about is the 4-pack of EGG BEATERS! ($4.98)

I've been reading up on them and supposedly they taste just like regular eggs but without all of the cholesterol. I'm kinda stoked about trying them and am looking forward to some omelets loaded with onion and bell pepper and fat free cheese!

Anyone have any experience with Egg Beaters? Good recipes or tips?

[always2late]

Originally Posted by Medusa

Daily Overshare Alert!


Another small victory today: This one wasn't about battle against the food per se, but more about battling against unhealthy thinking patterns.

We had to endure a 4-hour-long session with human resources today at work. It had the potential to be super-stressful and uncomfortable for our team and many of us were wringing our hands about the possible conversations. Our unit administrator decided to order pizza to try to ease tensions. He had said yesterday that they would "provide a healthy lunch" so I didnt pack lunch today and opted for packing just snacks and water.

I kinda freaked out a little in my head when I heard that the healthy lunch was pizza because my head is super black and white about what I can and can not do on my plan for better health. The black and white stuff says I have to go cold turkey off of anything resembling pizza, hamburger, ribs, ice cream, fettucini etc. (the stuff I love!). The real me knows that it is simply not reasonable to go the rest of my life without ever eating another piece of pizza or cup of ice cream so today I turned off the yakking in my head and ate ONE piece of pizza and used my snack cup of cantaloupe as a side item.

I ate that one piece of pizza and did not feel guilty and did not feel shame and THAT is truly a victory for me. The guilt-feelings and shaming stuff usually would have meant I ate the pizza, felt guilty and decided "Fuck it, I've ruined everything and I suck so I might as well cram my face with....you guessed it....MORE PIZZA!". Self-sabotage, front and center.

I refuse to do that ever again. I will not use shame and guilt as an excuse to let unhealthy thoughts take over so that I can sabotage some more. What I WILL do is say to myself "Is eating one piece of pizza reasonable?" When I can answer "Yes, that is reasonable" (taking into consideration that I have eaten a healthy breakfast and had plenty of water), I will proceed with the food (in moderation of course). I plan to walk a little longer tonight, not because I feel like I need to "work off the pizza" but because that's what I think will make me feel balanced.

Woman can not live by salad alone! We also can not live on shame, guilt, or self-sabotage. Sometimes we gotta turn that love-mirror on ourselves and say "A piece of pizza for lunch does not mean the end of a healthy lifestyle!".

Baby steps toward health. Whoomp!

Awesome post! And so very true....we can be our own worst enemies, and for no good reason! We hold ourselves to a near impossible standard, and then beat ourselves up for not holding to it. When in truth....we have AMAZING willpower and strength! Let's face it....how many of us have been on insane starvation diets? Diets that wouldn't satisfy a gnat? If that doesn't take willpower, I don't know what does! In my younger years I was a gymnast, until I blew out my knee. As a result I have an amazingly screwed up metabolism born of years of starvation. Now, like most on the thread, I am trying to eat better and get to a place of better health....but some of that old mentality still exists. The "You CAN'T eat that, and if you do you're a failure and you might as well just not even bother trying to eat healthy or better. Now go get a whole gallon of ice cream" mentality. I have to re-train my brain to believe that having a small portion of something I crave ISN'T a criminal act and, in fact, will benefit me in the long run by helping me to stick to a healthier eating plan!

[Zimmeh]

I found a sugar free dessert in a cookbook that was given to me.

Enjoy!

What you will need:

3 small boxes of sugar free strawberry jello
2 containers of strawberry fat free yogurt
5 to 6 fresh strawberries <optional>
cool whip <sugar free or low fat>
1 pie shell

Directions:

Boil 3 cups of water, take off stove and mix jello; after it starts to get thick, blend in yogurt< don't add any additional water>. Pour in pie shell, cut the strawberries into pieces and let it cool for a few hours. Put the cool whip on top and if you want, add a few more strawberries on top.

Enjoy,

Zimmy