Hello all. I feel like I should re-introduce myself, since I feel like I am re-starting! Since I think, pretty much thursday I have been off, probably waaaay off. Worst part is I haven't even been tracking these last days. That was the one stable thing to my weightloss attempt. At least I was tracking! Anyways I am angry with myself and frustrated, and am quite sure I have undone any loss I accrued previously. Quite frankly I dont feel too assured that I can do this. I will keep trying however, I am crawling back onto the horse and I am going to get back to tracking everything I eat and drink, and I am going to get back to being accountable to you ladies. The plan is the same. I am trying to zig zag my calories.

Breakfast- Large apple- 120 cals
Lunch- 2 veggie sausage patties, slice daves killer bread with 2tbps adams natural peanut butter and 1 tbsp homemade raspberry jam-520 cals
Snack- 1/2 bag microwave popcorn-180 cals
Dinner- Grilled shrimp, black beans and cheddar cheese, tomatos, salsa-452 cals
Snack- 1/2 bag microwave popcorn-180 cals

Total: 1452 calories

On a happier note, eeryone is still here and seems to be doing well for the most part.

Queen Sarah- Congrats on 2 lbs. Thats awesome!

You will do this ma! Don't look back. Every day is the first day of this endeavor.

We are watching for you to post! Even if it's far from perfect, please post, because that will make it easier to get back on track when you fail (and we all fail, as you can see by our posts!)

Always keep an eye on the long term, and congratulate yourself whenever you see a downward trend! Sometimes the occasional failures get so overblown in our minds, when the big picture is really looking good. Five years from now, you will be exactly where you want to be, if you keep starting over each day.

b: picante/cheese omelet, banana w/p. butter, coffee, 16oz aqua - 400
l: blueberry greek yogurt and goldfish - 400

The banana and p. butter w/b-fast stuck w/me way longer than having a grapefruit. Wasn't overly hungry for lunch but ate because I knew I'd be chewing my arm off later if I didn't. Am good till dinner.

d: turkey burger (no bun) w/ peppers, goya tomate rice, carrots - 600

Total: 1400

REALLY wanting something sweet . . . and not a freakin' jolly rancher either! Aaahhhhh . . . I'm 1 lb. away from my end of January goal and don't want to screw that up but I want something sweetttt!

Ended up noshing on some HN Cherrios. That did the trick.

Total: 1500 - a bit more than I wanted today but considering I was close to shoving many cookies down my throat . . not too shabby!

Overall, I had a VERY disappointing weekend. I planned my shopping trip and food items and I thought everything went well (at the store). I bought a lot of veggies, wraps for quick sandwiches, etc. Well, I decided to eat a wrap for lunch which consisted of a veggie burger, spinach, tomatoes and (grilled onions). Well, lo and behold when my weight watcher education kicked in, I realized that the calories in onions change when you cook them (the same as an egg). I was so upset because I love onions and I had a bunch of them and that boosted up the calorie count. The wrap that I bought was HORRIBLE. Well that was the first disappointment.

The 2nd disappointment was the BROWN rice that I bought. It was gosh awful terrible. It was HORRIBLE. So, that ruined my lunch.

I was disappointed all weekend. Today is new day.

Queen Sarah- Thanks for the encouragment. It actually REALLY struck a cord. I keep telling myself that I am not looking for fast results, but I think I really am. I see a big initial woosh, and then a slight gain back and I stalled. I was still down to 176 from 179, thats good! But it had gone up from seeing 175 a few days and I totally took that as failure. Sure I wasn't staying as low in calories as I had planned. But I was building good habits. I was tracking daily and I wasn't popping right back up to my start weight.
I first signed up for 3fc in 2010! I really didnt come on here much back then, but if I had been having even 1 lb of weightloss per month since then I would be awfully close to goal right now.

You saying "Always keep an eye on the long term, and congratulate yourself whenever you see a downward trend! Sometimes the occasional failures get so overblown in our minds, when the big picture is really looking good. Five years from now, you will be exactly where you want to be, if you keep starting over each day."
-Was like the epiphany I needed. Thank you thank you thank you! If I go with the status quo, what I have been doing now for years, then I will slowly be losing and gaining a little weight at a time, and in five years I'll probably be about 10 lbs heavier and losing five then gaining five, losing five then gaining six. My wieght has been a very slow climb overall. And that is all the result I will get if I dont learn to trust the process and teach myself how to moderate what I eat, and commit to move. This is about life right? It's not about this June and the desire to wear a cute swimsuit, and its not about this next fall and the wedding your a bridesmadi in. It's about conquering the constant fight and learning to do whats healthy for ones body so even if you don't wear the perfect size, you know you are not hurting your health, and your insuring that in the longterm you remain healthy and at a happier (not continually growing, and likely shirnking to your right) size.

*sorry this was long*

What?? Eggs and onions change calorie counts when cooked? Never heard that before.

The egg carton says 70 cals per egg so that's what I count. Onions are veggies and I frequently don't even bother counting them. I would NOT sweat the onion thing, LA. AT ALL.

The wraps I buy are called Tumaros's Gourmet Tortillas, multi-grain low in carbs, 95% fat free'. They're right underneath the display at the deli counter (I shop at Giant here.) Quite tasty, only 60 cals per tortilla and they're big. I shove TONS of veggies into them, some chicken or leftover steak or pork, sometimes a little shredded cheese, some l.f. sour cream . . good to go! You can try taking a little taco seasoning mix, mixing in a little water (couple of tspns) and mixing that into the veggies/meat. Especially good if you sautee/stir fry the veggies. Yum.

Brown rice. I tried that. Once. Ewwww. I eat white rice (yeah, yeah I know it's not as good for you) but I don't eat it all the time, I watch my portion and I try to keep the rest of day on the lower end of the carb scale to offset the starchiness of the rice.

I haven't heard that about eggs (and how many people eat raw eggs anyway?) -- but vegetables -- I have heard something similar. When you cook certain vegetables, your body converts it to sugar more readily. So when I was on Nutrisystem, something like broccoli would be considered "unlimited" if it was raw, and limited to one serving if it was cooked. I chose to ignore that. No one is going to get fat eating too many vegetables -- especially onions!

I count everything the same whether raw or cooked, and I hardly ever even count onions. I count any non-starchy vegetable as "1 serving" no matter how many tons of it I put on my plate. I've lost 30 lbs doing this. I wouldn't worry if I were you!!

LA: I'm going to have to go with the majority here and say "Don't Sweat the Small Stuff", unless it's nuts or trail mix. However, onions can be fattening--if they are Onion RINGS or a Blooming Onion from Outback. As far as the rice thing...it's one lunch...how will you know you will like something new if you don't try new things? There are plenty of foods that I've bought and just simply could not MAKE myself like or even eat...take that Kashi cereal & oatmeal for example! :barf:

Awesome OP day for me today. I have some water weight, but hoping that dissipates by the end of the week.

Monday's Menu
Ezekiel Bread w/PB, PB2 Greek Yogurt w/Agave: 310
15 Bean Stew w/Laura's Lean, Almonds: 300
SBD Lazy Cabbage, Grapes, Granola: 214
Chicken Salad w/FF Raspberry Pecan Dsg, TFM Happy Heart Mix: 404
Total: 1228

Exercise: BodyRock, Plateau Challenge Arms & Abs, K9 Walk: 338
Water: 88 oz

Work tomorrow night. :crossed: for an uneventful, quiet evening!!

NOW you have the concept!!
Weight loss is NOT linear! Just because you do A, B, & C right this week will NOT necessarily guarantee weight loss for you. Many factors contribute to scale loss.
I was hoping to be at goal in September--I mean how long does it take to lose 20 friggin pounds--GEEZ!! & look at me...it's almost been a year and I have 5 lbs to go! Talk about SLOOOOOOOW weight loss! But, I've learned so many new things & the discovery of new foods! I cannot say it has all been for nothing.

The goal is defo to look great in a swimsuit this summer, but if I don't--I didn't last summer & made it to the pool a couple of times a week, the beach for a week, Jamiaca, the Cayman's, and Cozumel, & I didn't allow the extra mid-section flab keep me from having a great time. I swam almost every day of my cruise!

The point is, we are all a work in progress. Do you think when you lose the extra pounds the work of it all will stop?? Try it. You'll be back at your current weight and then some in no time flat! Sorry, that's kinda mean, but it really is the truth. I know because this is the THIRD time I've lost the same 20 lbs in about 15 yrs!

:grouphug: to you!! We are here for you! You can do it! We will help!

new here and my stats....
 

welll, need accountability big time. I am at 210 and looking forward to getting to 175-180 (or less!!LOL!)

Ok, I live in Taiwan, major rice and noodle area, but doing well to stay away from that.

I am just starting this so seeing how to do with staying under 1800calories. These few weeks are trial periods just to see how I work with out with working at our crisis pregnancy center and 4 kids at home.

So far:
wk 1/28: 1545 for the day (that is 1755 minus 210 calories from exercise)
1/29:1953 (was starving, no food really....we got back from vacation 1/27 so dh decided on McDonalds:mad:)
1/30: 1398 (not sure how I did that, but was ok....but the next morning was starving!)
WATER: have gotten in over 8 cups a day!!! yeah

only had Coke on 1/29....big step for me!! I am not going to work on exercise for a bit, just focus on changing my eating habits.
My day here is not over so will let you know tomorrow.

Thanks for having me here:-)

It is so normal to be in a hurry when you have decided to lose weight! But I really believe that slowwwwwww weight loss is better. If it takes you 5 years to get to your ideal weight, just think of it as 5 years of general decline (in the graph) rather than 5 years that you could have gained the weight back (and lost it again and gained it again, perhaps), which is what MOST people do! We will all have to keep trying, once we get there. We can't go back to our old ways of not thinking about what we are eating.

I ended up yesterday with 1733 calories, and a 246 calorie deficit. My weight this morning was, I thought, a new low, but I checked, and I had a slightly lower weight in November. So I can say that I've finally undone the damage I did with the end of the semester, and Christmas.

I'm glad to know that I wasn't losing my mind as far as calories changing when some foods are cooked. Boiled eggs have a different calorie count that scrambled eggs. And you are right about the onions - when they are cooked and eaten, it converts to sugar. The Weight Watcher classes talks about all of this.

So, as you suggested, I won't worry about it. Thanks. :smug:

Thanks everyone for the great advice. I try to tell myself that I am in it for the slow loss. I KNOW that losing slow give sme a much greater liklihood of keeping it off. I think that breaking old thought patterns will take a little time. I've heard it before on here: "fake it till you make it", so I'm faking that I truely believe I dont need to lose weight quickly, and I believe that I will come to really feel that way :).

Well yesterdays calories were good, (on the cycling plan I have 1424 or so as lower days and then some with 1526 some with 1700+) My food choices were not, however, stellar. So hopefully I can keep with a lower calorie count again and add MUCh more veggies and fruits.

Breakfast- Coffee and oatmeal w/ mixed berries, flax seed. bee pollen, and organic brown rice protien powder, 1 large apple- 462 cals

LA -- I've never, ever heard that about different calories in eggs or veggies for that matter in cooked vs. uncooked. Never even thought about it. How can a microwaved scrambled egg have more calories than a hard boiled egg?

I just go by what the packaging says or by what my calorie counter book (or on-line if I can't find it in my book) says. Seems to work.


-------------------

b: picante omelet, coffee, banana w/p. butter (wow, eating the banana w/p butter really makes this b-fast stick like glue! I ate around 9:15 this morning, it's nearly 1pm and I'm still not hungry.) - 400
finally got hungry around 2:30! - yogurt - 160; leftover pasta/beef (not much) - 200
d: small amount of steak, baked potato w/1 pitty pat of butter and some lf sour cream, carrots, 1/4 cup homemade vanilla pudding (oh homemade pudding is da bomb!)1 small homemade choc. cookie w/reeses p.b. chips (recipe on bag) - 800

Total: 1600

Little higher than I wanted today. Gotta try to stick it down to 1350-1450 the next few days to move that scale down.

I was wondering if there is a book that I can buy that includes the calorie count for all foods. I hate to have to keep searching online for what I need. Any suggestions?

Thanks

Ok, I think I'm going to be ok. Thanks to everyone for the motivation. If I was doing this alone, I would have thrown in the towel, grabbed a gallon of ice cream and oreo cookies and washed it down with a glass full of milk. BUT, since that's not going to happen, I think I have a few things figured out.

I understand that everyone is different and our bodies will respond differently to different foods. What I found out yesterday is that I need a breakfast that will "stick to my ribs" so that I am not starving by 9:00 AM. The usual cereal and milk was NOT doing it. So, this is what I had for breakfast this morning.

Breakfast
4 slices of turkey bacon - 25 calories per slice = 100 calories
2 scrambled eggs - 199 calories (according to 3 different food sites & Livestrong.com)
1/4 cup mozarella cheese - 90 calories


Snack - Oatmeal - 190 calories (was VERY filling. NO MORE COOKIES)

Lunch -
1 cup Weight Watchers Taco Soup - 134.2 calories
10 Stone Wheat crackers = 140 crackers
1 pack (32g) of peanut butter with dark chocolate - 170 calories (trying new brand)

Total so far = 1023.2

All of that in addition to my water, I am happy to report that I am stuffed.

The light breakfasts weren't doing it for me and I was starving and then binging on cookies and cookies and cookies at 9:00 AM. I replaced the cookies with oatmeal and I was still able to get a sweet treat.

The new peanut butter that has dark chocolate in it satisfied my chocolate crave.

I usually don't eat a dinner meal after work, so I will probably just have a fruit when I get off from work as a snack.

I think that I'm on the right track. I just had to listen to what you all were suggesting to me and finding what works best for me and NOT giving up.

I know that you all are probably tired of me saying this, but THANK YOU so much. I appreciate everything. :D

lol, the calorie counting book I use I bought in 1992. I mostly use it for things like fruit, veggies, meat, dairy, etc. ... things where the calorie count will always be what it is. A banana is a banana, you know? Otherwise I look on the package of what I'm eating or if it's something like a casserole that I made I figure the different ingredients in my head and approximate the calories.

Probably if you do a search on calorie counting books you'll find tons . . . Amazon might be cheaper or even a local books store.

LA -- were the 2 scrambled eggs you had cooked in butter or something? Because according to fitday:

one egg white only, cooked = 16.4 cals
one egg yolk only, cooked = 60.6
Total = 77 cals

one egg white only, raw = 16.5 cals
one egg yolk only, raw = 60.9
Total cals = 77.4

On the egg carton it says 1 egg = 70 cals. (large egg)

I always go by the egg carton number. When I make an omelet I use 1 whole egg and 2 whites; I count the whole egg as 70 and each white as 15 for a total of 100 cals. for the eggs.

No, I don't cook with butter. I use Pam cooking spray.

I read that 1 raw egg is 70 calories.

So if one raw egg is 70 and you use pam . . . wouldn't 2 scrambled eggs w/pam be around 150 rather than the 199 you listed? (I figure 140 for the eggs and another 10 or so for the spray). That's how I'd count it anyway.

I use a non-stick spray (Crisco) and never even think to add that amount into my cal count because it's so small.

Ok the calorie counting book I use is called 'All New Fat and Sodium Counter with Calorie Guide', copyright 1991. It's paper back, about 100 pages. I've never, ever used the count they have on any convenience food because the convenience food has the calories on the package. Geez, for as well worn and dog-eared as the book is you'd think I'd have figured out this whole weight loss thing by now! :lol:

WoW! Who knew there would be so much conversation over eggs :rofl:

I make FF Cheese Omelets many days for breakfast. 1 whole egg, 2 extra whites and 1/8c FF cheese (the cheese is 23 cals) for a total of 127 cals.
I don't specify how I cook the egg when I list it in MFP. I just list it as an egg. 1 lg egg=70 cals, 2 whites=34 cals.
I can see why a hard-boiled egg would be different cals though, b/c you don't have to eat the yellow center, making it fewer cals.

The same is true when I have uncooked meat. I weigh it before I cook it, unless I buy or have something that is already cooked. Meat is not the same in grams when you cook it as it is when it is raw, but the difference is minimal compared to the exercise I do. I defo don't sweat the small fluctuations.

I have made such a HUGE database in MFP over the past 9 months of regular food & now with the scanning option for my mobile device, going back to a book would be a big inconvenience for me.

:rofl:

Hey, also, I just thought about it and my precision digital food scale came with a chart for how many cals are in different fruits and veggies by how many grams you eat.

I always measure in grams, it's way more accurate than cups.

LOL @ conversation over eggs. :lol:

I count an egg as 80 calories. LOL. There are different sizes of eggs -- I usually buy extra large.




It's so nice to have a team of four chefs who prepare dinner for me when I get home. George Foreman and Olive Oilsprayer teamed upon the vegetables, with a little help from Mrs. Dash (I'm sorry, I don't know her first name). And Mike Rowave, who is a little lazy, heated up some quiche for me.

More egg input! :lol:

Ezekiel Bread w/1 tsp pb, Cottage Cheese w/Pineapple, SO Delicious Pomegranate Chip, Chips & Cheese Dip :nono: : 518
Cranberry Juice: 60
FF Cheese Omelet **How could I resist after all the EGG TALK??**, NOW Protein Shake: 457
Sweet n Sour Chicken w/Miracle Noodles, PB2 Greek Yogurt w/granola: 411
TOTAL: 1446

Exercise: 439 + some walking at the hospital--going to be close to 650-700 by the end of the night.
Water: TBD

I seriously could strangle my hubby. I asked him 2 weeks ago, when the last of those dang tortilla chips were gone not to buy anymore of them. He remembers and hears things he wants to remember and hear. So, a couple of days ago, he waltzes thru the front door with 2 HUGE bags of On The Border chips & the BIGGEST cheese dip from Sam's that is sold. :tantrum:

He commented, "You have to LEARN to eat in moderation!" :devil:
If it were NOT in the house, I wouldn't have to worry about eating it at ALL!!

LA:
Breakfast
4 slices of turkey bacon - 25 calories per slice = 100 calories
2 scrambled eggs - 199 calories (according to 3 different food sites & Livestrong.com)
1/4 cup mozarella cheese - 90 calories


Snack - Oatmeal - 190 calories (was VERY filling. NO MORE COOKIES)

Lunch -
1 cup Weight Watchers Taco Soup - 134.2 calories
10 Stone Wheat crackers = 140 crackers
1 pack (32g) of peanut butter with dark chocolate - 170 calories (trying new brand)

Total so far = 1023.2

This is looking MUCH better to me!!! WTG dropping that cereal. I don't know why people think cereal and milk is a good choice for meals. You end up eating a ton of it before you're full. Then, in 2 hours, you're starving!

This is true! Unless you have a cereal that is super-high protein, and I have only found two -- the Nutrisystem brand, which I sometimes find at Big Lots, sold in individual servings, and Kashi GoLean (NOT the GoLean "crunch"), which I have to weigh on a food scale and then put the box away. I wouldn't buy any other kind, or if I did, I'd be really careful with it.

finished yesterday
 

well, we went out to dinner last night as nothing in the house to eat. In Taiwan we have a hot pot. Sorta like an irol bowl that is set on a container that has some type of container with a small fire in it. Inside is your choice. So I chose beef. So there were about 4-5 semi thin beef slices, lots of cabbage and a few other things that well, I don't know the English for. I did not have rice or noodles with it all and only had like a small 4oz of Pepsi. I am guessing that it all was roughly 500 calories. Later that night had fresh squeezed lemon juice with a few dried plums in it and they added a little sugar.....guessing 70 (joys of not knowing this stuff.)

So yesterday,the guestimation is at 1662calories.....138under my goal.

Today I started out with Special K cereal
1.5 cup (is that 165 calories?)
.5cup low fat milk (55)
1 medium bananan (this is where I am thrown off....one place says 90 calories and one says 105)............

so breakfast roughly 310

NOW I see you all talking about cereal making you hungry and all.....great...well.... now I need to finish off the box before I do anything else!!LOL!!!

In Taiwan, you just can't get frozen diet foods and substitutions like you can other places, so well.....we'll see.

2200 calories burned so far today...

Happy Groundhog's Day Eve!

Today, Wednesday:

Breakfast: NS cereal, skim milk, Morningstar Farms Patty, orange

Everything else, packed into a large lunch tote for the day (I'm on the go):
NS minestrone soup
2 servings fat free coleslaw
4 oz baby carrots
11 oz low sodium V8
TLC chewy granola bar
Chobani Greek Yogurt
Babybel cheese
string cheese
Zone Perfect bar
2 Hershey's dark chocolate kisses

Total of above: 1218

The plan is to have my usual evening snack, and I should get at least 3 miles of walking today.

And I'm tracking my water today. I've gone back to using my phone app, because I have been careless about drinking enough water.

Today's Meals

Breakfast
4 slices of turkey bacon - 25 calories per slice = 100 calories
2 large scrambled eggs - 160 calories + 5 calories for Pam Cooking Spray
1/4 cup mozarella cheese - 90 calories

Lunch -
2 cups Vegetable Soup - 300 calories
7 Reduced Fat Triskets - 120 calories

Snack - Oatmeal - 190 calories
2 tbsp PB - 170 calories ______________ TOTAL = 1135 Calories

Not sure what I will have for Dinner. Maybe fruit or cottage cheese.

Does anyone drink the little powdered drink packets that you mix with water? Your thoughts on those.

Your FF Cheese Omelet sounds yummy. I will try that because I love eggs.

b: coffee, coffee yogurt, banana w/p. butter - 400
l: LC rice/beans and threw some leftover chicken in - 350
(too much running around today and I got back an hour later than I thought I would and was starving, starving hungry. The LC wasn't what I wanted -- too much sodium and I've been eating too much pasta and/or rice the past 5 days or so and the scale will not budge when I do that -- but it was fast and well, I was eying the cat crunchies as it was cooking so . . . yeah, overall probably not a bad choice!)
s: grapefruit - 75
d: steak, small baked spud, leftover carrots - 600

Total: 1400

I feel like that scale isn't going to budge this week. Birthday in the house tomorrow (plus another run-around day for me) and homemade spaghetti (didn't I just say I need to stay away from pasta?) and homemade chocolate cake have been requested. Ugh, just shoot me. Sometimes I was I wasn't such a good cook/baker! :lol:

I'm going to try the Oscar Mayer Turkey smoked turkey. That sounds delicious. Thanks for the tip on the Crystal Light. :)

yesterday I ended up with 1339 putting me 461 under my 1800 goal.

I am not sure how well to count though. Like for dinner, I made myself vegetable soup. Well, it had 4 cups of water and one chicken bullion (50calories), then I had 4 cups of chopped broccili, 1cup of chopped carrots and one cup of chopped tomatoes and added a clove of garlic, oh and one cup of cooked boneless chicken breast (I made the rest of the family curry and kept some meat for me). IT WAS GOOD!!! but only ate half of it and was stuffed!!! my guesstimation for it after searching was around 250 something (I can't find out where I wrote it).

Anyway, so far today breakfast killed me....522 :( but it was 4-5 hours later that I felt the urge to eat.

so far today:
682 calories.......

For me, my goal is not to go over 1800, and it is almost like a game to see how far under I can stay:-)......My . should be coming any day, so that isn't helping issues. Can't wait to see what Saturday holds as that will be one week of CC for me!!!

My birthday is March 12......is 20lbs by then too much? I don't want to set a goal that will put me up for failure. But I want to set a goal and if I meet it, then my gift will be the bike I want to start biking:cool: