[Carina]

IN the last 5 years 15 lbs has slowly crept onto my body - I would like to loose a min of 10 of those pounds ( I am 5'9" and 150 Lbs)

For awhile - although I was at a job that was more active than my current job (I now just stand all day - i'm a grocery store Cashier) I was eating horribly, I was letting muself have multiple treats a day - my fruit and veggie intake was nearly nil and my drink of choice was coke or Hot chocolate

I know counting calories is NOT for me - I now read lables but analizing my pork chops or spagetti portion is not my cuppa tea... besides I know my dinner portions are fine

SO since the scale creaped to over 150 on my "fat" days of the month I thought - UGH I really gotta do something about this
I was 145 and never flucutating more than 1-2 pounds for about 3 years then I switched jobs and the 5 lbs jumped on in just a month or 2 - and that 150 (ish) hasnt budged more than 1-2 lbs either way in nearly a year

So in the last 4-6 weeks
I now only drink less than one cup of coke a day ( or buy coze zero)
I now have aprrox one hot choc a week
I am eating fruits and veggies more ( honeslty still jsut 1-2 portions a day but more than before)
I have maintained my small dinnner portions
I am choosing healthier snacks ( I do check calories on Pkged goods)
I have cut my treats to - hummm I would say about 1/4 of what I was "treating" myself to in a day - less treats and smaller treats
I drink 10 times the water I was ( from nil to about 4-5 cups a day)

I know I need to do more - my stationary bike is not getting enough use, and my fruits and veggies can still go up more, but I really thought my healthier choices would have shown up on the scale.....

I am maintaining just fine - but I was eating WAY more crap and maintaining ( other than the one 5 lb jump) so how do I go from maintaing to loosing?

Any advice would be MUCH appreciated - I will never be a health food nut - I am making healthier choices, but I still want the food I like

[Sodiumlightbaby]

Hi and welcome. Sounds like if you want to continue eating the way you are, which is allowing you to maintain, then you need to exercise, it will help you lose those extra pounds. I know you don't want to count your calories, but even if you do it for a couple days, it will give you an idea of where your are. That's what I did and now I just guesstimate and have a pretty good idea of what I intake.

Good Luck!

Dana

[Carina]

Where do I find out how to approximate the calories in home made food?

[Dawnslight]

Originally Posted by Carina

Where do I find out how to approximate the calories in home made food?

That part has always been a problem for me too. Trying to see what home cooked meals came up calorie wise. When I was into counting calories (something I need to start doing again) I broke down what was in the meal and logged it in. I used fitday.com to keep track of that stuff. It has several food items and if it doesn't have it listed, but you know the nutritional value it allows you add them.

But as far as losing more weight, I'd say that you need to start excersizing more. Or at least moving more. If you drive to work park farther away from the door. Personally, where I work I try to find excuses to walk to places instead of using the phone. May be more time consuming, but at least I get to move more.

And welcome to the group!

Dawn

[Whittlin]

Hi, Carina.

Good job on changing your habits for the better. Reducing sweets and adding water makes you healthier, so even if you don't see it on the scale yet, you will. Don't give up. I forget how many pounds it is you can lose just by replacing sweetened drinks with water in a year, but it's pretty impressive. That would be interesting to look up.

As far as the 15 pound gain over 5 years, that's pretty normal. As we get older, our calories don't have to change to gain weight. Not being a veggie eater when we're young - well, we can get away with it for a while. But the reality is, it's only the metabolism of youth that's letting us get away with it, and that's changing all the time. I'd say the best thing you could do for yourself would be to up your fresh veggies and a few fruits. Enjoy the stationary bike and post with us in the exercise threads.

editing to say, I looked it up!
Looks like replacing 2 cans of soda per day with water equals 5 pounds lost every year. Here's the article http://www.azcentral.com/families/ar...water1212.html

[Janie Canuck]

Also, you don't have much to lose, and according to BMI, you aren't even overweight. This means that weight loss will be slower for you. Keep doing what you're doing with the food, add in the exercise, then be patient - it'll happen.

[Carina]

you guys are so sweet - thanks for the info and support!

I know I am not 'overweight' I just look diffrent in the mirror and I sure dont want the pounds to go up instead of down so I better start doing someting now!

[Sheila53]

You can also use the link below to a calorie-count website where you enter the recipe ingredients and get the nutritional information. I've been using it quite a lot. It doesn't have some things (like fat-free mayo), but for those times, you can take out the ingredient it doesn't recognize and then use the nutritonal information on the label and divide by number of servings.

http://www.calorie-count.com/calorie...submit&count=4