100 lb. Club - I feel like I'm finally getting it!

It's been 5 whole months on this lifestyle change. I got the exercise down, I exercise several times a week and that's how I primarlily lost weight. But it kept going up and down between a 265 abd 275, I couldn't seem to get out of it. I won't call it a plateau because I know I wasn't doing everything I should be.

I use *********** to track my calories in and out but my food was always still so high. I could measure my food for awhile but then I'd fall back off. I'd eat junk too, chocolate being my weakness. I just don't know how to limit myself. I'm really really trying.

I figured since I have the exercise thing going except for my knees keep bugging me. It's now time to concentrate on my eating. I"m also getting a little further along in my book Winning by Losing by Jillian Michaels. It's helping alot and lurking here everyday.

So this week I really worked on limiting my calorie intake while getting all the right food groups. I still need to work on fruits and veggies. I usually pretty good about them. I've done good so far, except for my chocolate, but I'm sticking to dark chocolate. Dh also bought me a kitchen scale so I can now measure out my food that way, especially the meat.

I've lost 2lbs this week and my weigh-in isn't until tomorrow. Though I haven't exercised yesterday or today, battling a little cold/flu symptoms. But I finally lost the 4lbs. I put back on when I took that week long break to travel and then I hurt my back. So I'm back on track and getting better everyday.

Donna...seems like you got some things figured out! You had an "aha" moment. I think it is great that you started with excercise first...and now you are working on your new daily diet. Sometimes changing both components is too much. I am sure you will find great results soon!

Love those aha moments! Congrats Donna!

Good job Donna! Sometimes and for some people it is best to work on one thing at a time. Once you get that thing down pat, then start on something else, until each thing is as much a habit as stuff you'd done your whole life.

Congratulations!

-lala

Well done! Those little steps really add up in the long run. Remember, you are buildling a life-time of healthy habits. Eating enough fruit/veg is something most of us have to work on.

Something that helped me a lot was to peruse cookbooks and watch cooking shows now and then. I collected a bunch of vegetable recipes that I wanted to try. I made myself try a new one every week, to see what worked and what didn't and what my family liked. Now I have a much wider repertoire of veggies to cook. (though I admit some nights, I just want a bit of butter and salt on them.)

Another thing that helped me "sneak" veggies into my meals was to dice celery/carrots/onion in the food processor until really fine, then put it into ice cube trays and add a bit of water to make cubes. I throw these cubes into soups, pasta sauces, omelets, hamburgers... you get the idea.

Another trick for me was to rethink salads. I grew up thinking salad was lettuce, and only useful as a blue cheese dressing conveyance. Now I use much less lettuce, and add some baby spinach... but the bulk of my salad is chopped veg -- broccoli/cauliflower florets, carrot and radish slices, mushrooms, pea pods. My usual salad is one cup of greens and two cups of veg. Add a tablespoon of really good dressing and shake well to coat -- that allows you to get the dressing on every piece, and you can use less of it. Yum!

And of course, for me, there is always soup. Soup is comfort food to me. My husband loves it when I roast a chicken. He loves the breast meat. I love doing it, too, because once he's eaten the breasts, all the rest of the meat is mine to use in soup. Instead of chicken noodle, I make chicken barley (barley is a whole grain with wonderful fiber) with LOTS of veggies.

Thanks Everyone.

Synger - do have a bunch of veggie recipe I use but it's a good idea to build on it. I'm just lazy some days to try. I make a lot of soups. My favorite right now is Italian Chickpea. I also like the idea of salads. I do use alot of spinach and romaine, it's one area I'd like to work on.

We'll I went back and looked at how much I weighed on Saturday, it was 273.8, this morning I was 268.8, that's 5lbs. just from modifying my diet. Gosh, that's crazy! I feel good though, except for this cold I'm battling the last two days.