[Cheryl14]

Hi All!

I have been sorting out my weight loss plan to find out why I have been at THE SAME WEIGHT for about six months! Sure, it HAS been great not to gain back any of the weight that I have lost (50 pounds), BUT I really want to get moving onto losing my last 50 pounds.

I decided to really look at my eating. I have a big appetite and can eat A LOT of food if I'm not careful! I figured that since I'm doing well at my exercising that MAYBE I was slipping up with my PORTIONS. I started with my cereal this morning. I actually MEASURED out one cup of my Kellogg's Red Berries cereal and was SHOCKED to discover what one cup really looked like! I got a bigger shock when I measured out the 1/2 cup of skim milk for my cereal. (The commercial for Kellogg's Red Berries cereal JUST came on! The lady that is eating HER cereal is eating a bowl which looks like it contains about THREE CUPS of cereal!!! Yikes! I have been brain-washed by what I SEE!)

Anyway, it all was a HUGE eye-opener for me! I have begun a food journal for the very first time in my life! I know that it will help keep me as honest as my other journal does where I write down all of my thoughts and feelings as well as my successes.

I hereby confess that I have been in denial with the AMOUNTS of food that I have been eating! I am hoping to see my ticker get to my next goal (199 lbs.) VERY SOON! When I get there to ONEderland I will have just forty more pounds to go to reach my goal.

I wish all of you good luck on YOUR weight loss journey!

Cheryl

[Lifeguard]

Good for you!

[srmb60]

I work in a hospital. A few years ago we had this adoreable dietician who was very open and friendly. I slipped into her office once for some tips on portion control. She had plastic food that she used for examples. Lawdy! I was eating 5 times that amount of mashed potatoes!

[Jasmine31]

I think that is great you are stopping and taking stock of what is going on. I had to do the same thing a few months ago. I was walking alot and making healthy choices but I knew I was still eating way too much. I had pleateau'd at 238-242. August 28 I was 238 and I upped my walking and started cal counting and have been losing steadily ever since. It is just a numbers game. Making that change has meant a 23 pound loss so far in just 2 1/2 months.

You can do this! If you need help figuring out how many cals are right for you check this link out:

Womens Nutrition Health Guide Calculator

This is where alot of us keep track of our food intake:

Fitday

Good luck!

[lilybelle]

WTG on discovering this. I found the same thing to be true with my bowl of Oats. If I don't measure it, I eat a huge portion. Many times we slip into the thinking of "I'm eating perfect and the scale won't budge". Truth is, we're eating too much of the RIGHT food. At least, I know I am.

[glynne]

Some of the foods are tricky ~ the way they are packaged ~ you think that one is a serving and it is not. I found this with muffins ~ was so surprised to read on the label that 1/2 a muffin was the "serving".

[sugarbaby269]

Well, all this information sure helps out us newbies! I guess I need to figure out how many calories I need to eat and go from there. All the numbers are so confusing. Thanks for sharing that with us Cheryl...

[jtammy]

Good for you Cheryl. I do that too sometimes. I have to use my measuring cups and spoons consistently because it is so easy for me to be very generous on the servings if I don't.

I use fitday and I journal everything now, the good, the bad and the ugly.

[CLCSC145]

I had a similar eye opening experience when I used my food scale for my cereal. 29 grams is the serving size and that barely covers the bottom of the bowl. You are right about the ads! I think the same thing when I watch Quaker Oatmeal commericals. I think it would probably take 5 little packages of oatmeal to make what they have in their bowl in the ad...