Sophie thanks you all for the support! She's a sweet kitty and I want her to live to a ripe old age. I sometimes wish some giant would dole out my food to me and when my daily allotment is gone, it's gone. No amount of begging and nagging would get me more.
Tonight I made my own Volumetrics version of Spaghetti that was very tasty. I simmered about 2 onces of cooked, drained and rinsed hamburger with a huge pile of multicolored bell peppers, onion, garlic, Italian seasoning, tomatoes, canned tomatoes, tomato sauce and a little water. Then I mixed in about 2/3 cup of cooked pasta. My luncheon size plate was piled high. I had green beans, garlic toast and a salad alongside. Spaghetti makes me smile. Especially when it has fewer calories. This concoction will not work for anyone who doesn't like garlic and bell pepper.
We continued working on decluttering today. For some reason, we have accumulated a rather large stock pile of vacuum cleaner attachments. We assigned them to the appropriate cleaners and are sending the many left overs to the thrift shop.
I was down a pound this morning. That makes me smile, too.
When doing intermittent fasting I used the "window closed" image & pretended I was a wandering depressed person with a large income who settled on a lonely island with only one general store and one small diner, so when the diner was closed as it frequently was because the one owner/operator/cook was lazy & went fishing a lot, I was too dysfunctional to cook & besides the one general store was closed frequently because the supply ship often forgot to stop at the island as the captain was usually late leaving the dock (whole lotta depressed, dysfunctional or lazy folk in that part of the ocean). So I just ate at the diner when open & took something home for dinner & made it last until the diner unshuttered the window and cooked some more food or the general store got more supplies.
In the meantime, I walked on the beach & contemplated the universe.
Last edited by Amarantha2; 01-26-2013 at 09:33 AM.
Gail - I also use luncheon plates for my dinner. This makes it worrisome when we eat out and I am confronted by a HUGE dinner plate, it intimidatesme. Yes, I like filling my tummy with vegies of all colors, shapes, and sizes. I'm a real veggie lover.
Amarantha - walking on the beach, contemplating the Universe, sounds like a great idea to me.
Our church group is hosting a potluck tomorrow evening at church, and I have been busy getting ready for that event. My plot is to organize as best I can, then relax and enjoy the party. Things usually work out OK.
I'm enjoying my weekend, hope everyone else is, too.
Jo, I have never been to a church potluck that didn't have terrific food. Do you force yourself to be moderate or go ahead and indulge a little?
I use the smaller plates even when I am not practicing portion control. I just like them better. And, yes, the huge plates at a restaurant are intimidating. Jerry likes big, deep plates so his food doesn't escape. Recently, I got him a nice blue one at Wally's. He calls it his "trough". I use a small platter for my giant salads.
Am2, I love your ocean/island scenario. I think you could develop it into a guided imagery piece. I have never heard one that had to do with food attitudes.
We had quite a bit of rain last night and now a cloud is sitting on us. It looks like someone spray painted our windows white - zero visibility.
JoJo, hope your potluck evening is fun. I would have a hard time being moderate at a church potluck. I would want to eat everything.
I also like smaller plates.
Gail, I do use storytelling (my former career was as a reporter) to create imagery related to eating & diet. I used to post reams of epic diet related tales related to my journey to make it more fun & help me figure it all out.
I don't do much of that anymore.
I did lose 1.6 this week & am. slogging along with my calorie challenge.
Gail - I agree that church potlucks present the opportunity for cooks to contribute the most delicious food in the universe. Actually that was true of last night's potluck. However, since I was doing the program I ate lightly as I always do when I am presenting the program. But there was lots of good food there.
Amarantha - I like your story-telling. And I firmly believe that whatever we can use to help us get to achieve a healthy weight loss and maintenance, that is what we should use. I once read this helpful hint - stand straight, with feet about 12" apart,shoulders back, hands on hips, and look downward at your tummy. Then ask yourself, "What can I do today to reduce the size of my tummy?" I've done this, and it helps me. LOL
It's snowing, and it's actually very pretty outside with the fresh snow decorating the neighbor's huge spruce trees. Hopefully the snow will continue as we do need the mioture.
Let's continue to 'fight the good fight' as we go through today. It is so important to maintain ourselves in the most healthy way possible, no matter what our age.
JoJo, that is a good idea about asking what one can do today to reduce the size of the stomach lol.
The trouble sometimes comes when one is very satisfied with the size & the question becomes what can one do today to retain that desirable size of the body. That is the essence of maintenance to me.
One answer for me right now is to slog along with my 21-day challenge even though I am near the calorie cap. I love my 21-day calorie challenge & am determined not to crash & burn on it tonight.
I ate not a one! After thinking about it all day, it occurred to me to post on here as a way of making myself think twice. Last time we went to this place, I ate too many chips and I could see the grease on the surface. I almost always get their chicken taco with onions and cilantro. The chicken is grilled and the tortillas very small. Last time I got the plate with rice and beans [Yum], but this time I had a salad instead of the rice and beans.
I can't believe I am so excited about not eating something. That's what I did for my tummy today.
I agree that a few chips aren't going to make or break me. It is my inability to control whether or not I eat them that "messes with my head" and leads to mindless eating. I fret and worry about what I ate that I shouldn't have, then I want to eat more because I am anxious about it...a vicious circle.
My girlfriend that I go out to eat with always takes half her meal home to eat the next day. I have a terrible time not eating it all when it is on my plate. If I do manage to take home half of it, I eat it as soon as I get home. LOL! So, I think it is probably better for me to get a smaller meal and just go ahead and eat it.
Last week, we had Asian food. We had left-overs which I didn't take home. It was hard, but I told my friend to go ahead and take it all. Sometimes it seems that I am such a child about this eating business.
Am2, what do you mean by calorie cap? You can eat only so many in 21 days?
Jo, I love the clean, quiet look of a snowy landscape. I just wouldn't like to have to cope with it on a daily basis.
Thanks for both your comments about maintenance. I am trying to learn about it now, so I will know what to do when I get to goal. One thing for sure, it never ends, so everyone keep up the good fight!
Hello everyone! I'm a newbie, but I've lurked for awhile. I will be 60 in a few months. I started my diet 3 weeks ago. I'm using the BistroMD program. They are pre-packaged, sent to our home, and we're doing the 5 day program, where we cook our own meals the other 2 days. My husband is also doing the program. His mother is doing WW's and she's doing really well with that too.
I really do avoid the scales! I use my clothes to tell me if what I'm doing is working. I would get so down if the scale didn't move, so now I just assume it's going in the right direction and I'm happier...lol
Two years ago I lost weight really fast. I did a low carb diet and I really shed the pounds. The problem was sticking with it for the long haul. I really like our BistroMD meals. They are a treat for us! Yes, they are expensive, but we were eating out 3 times a week, which also added up, and I don't mind skipping the grocery shopping, the clean-up, and trying to figure out calories and portion control. Thanks for listening and I enjoy this board!
Hi, Indymama - Welcome! It sounds like you have your whole family on track, one way or another. I have a friend who lost 50 lbs on WW.
I took a look around on the Bistro MD website. My goodness those meals look good. I guess one challenge for you can be to try to duplicate all that yumminess in the meals you cook on the off days. Since you and DH are both doing this together, it sounds perfect.
Personally, I don't think it matters very much how fast you loose the weight or what kind of diet you use - it is what you do for maintenance that tells the tale.
I have probably been on about five diets where I lost 20 to 40lbs. After the first one, I went right back to eating like I always did, but it took several years for me to gain it all back. Most recently, I kept the weight off for about a year and then gained it all back plus another 20lbs pretty fast. Will this time be different?? Who knows.
One of my biggest victories is that, over time, I have learned to enjoy fruit. It all started with going to a peach orchard a few years ago. I ate multiple peaches every day, despite what "they" say about too much fruit. I figured out that I certainly didn't get fat eating peaches. Last year, we went back to the orchard later in the year and they had pears. I learned how to tell if the pear was ripe. So I ate lots of peaches last summer, and now I am eating pears. We drove around the California central valley where Jerry is from and bought grapes right out of the field. Sometimes the workers just gave us a pile of grapes. They were to die for. Recently, I branched out into oranges, specifically the "Cuties" variety. Some of them have been pretty sour, but some have been good. I still haven't found the perfect apple. For what ever reason the sour apples are in style right now, and I really don't like sour apples. If I want something sour, I'll suck a lemon. LOL.
Today, I am grateful to have so many delicious things to eat.
She's a sweet kitty and I want her to live to a ripe old age. I sometimes wish some giant would dole out my food to me and when my daily allotment is gone, it's gone. No amount of begging and nagging would get me more.
Yes, I like filling my tummy with vegies of all colors, shapes, and sizes. I'm a real veggie lover.
to you. You should be very proud of yourself.