Its great to see you here Lilian. Sorry you have been unwell and all your family of course. I hope everyone recovers soon.

Yes "only for a short time" being key to 1000 cals per day.

Well done Trish/patty ha ha i only just noticed that you are TRISH!, Well done on your bike kms. I mean miles. Bike can hurt your knees if the gearing is too tight so don't let be to hoard to cycle. And the longer you do it, make it easier. I do a lot of cycling at times and the times that give all of us sore knees is when we have to do a lot of hills before we are really fit enough. Hills, high gearing, unfitness, all means knees are weaker and more prone to injury so be careful. Don't over do it.

Anyway i've just made another delicious salad that you girls might want to try sometime.

First off i had a piece of toast with 1/4 avocado, a sprinkle of diced onion and a few crumbs of fetta and black pepper. I don't have any tomatoes but i'd normally put a half a tomato on that as well if i had it.

But my salad is my own version of tabouleh. AGain beucase i do not have tomatoes or parsley but yesterday i bought some burghal wheat with the idea of making tabouleh.

Today i made this happy experiment.
First you soak the burghal one hour in a little water as per the packet.
Then 1/4 cup of soaked burghal wheat = 1 serve so that's what i used.
1 red delicious apple diced
1 stick celery,
1 few bit of lettuce leaf diced
1 decent chunk of cucumber diced fine
1 little diced onion
juice of half a lime. (balsamic vinegar would do if limes or lemons are not available.)
and finally i added 1tsp of mixed sees but the walnut halves would be fine too.
oh and black pepper
no need to add any salt to this.

No need i'm sure to mention how high in fibre this is. And i really love the added sweetness that apple gives to a salad.
Not much protein in today's lunch, a little but not much. But lots of vitamins and minerals. All of which makes our minds and bodies function better. I do love eating healthy food i gotta admit it. But why must it be so hard when we are eating sugar. I think its just cause sugar tastes so amazing. Have you ever seen the effect it has on tribal people when they taste it for the first time. Is it any wonder that we are such addicts.

Good morning, all! Finally, a sunny day here with not too many clouds in the sky- yahoo! Now, if only that snow would go away.........

Anyhow, I saw my two porch swings outside (as I was rocking in my cushy rocking recliner chair getting ready for my Bruins game)- I love them and use them every night for at least an hour, sometimes two, in the nicer weather. It got me to wondering about possible extra calories burned while rocking back and forth on the porch swing and rocking chairs, and I decided to check it out just for fun, how many calories it burns per hour (150- I believe that is for a 120 pound woman).

I always knew my thighs and calves toned up while rocking back and forth, but never knew it helped your ankles and balance, too. Imagine that, something fun and relaxing burning easy calories off! :D

Anyhow, read this article which explains more:

http://www.amoils.com/health-blog/10...ck-that-chair/

Another great weight loss tool that can help with figuring out how many calories you need per day to lose weight-

http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/ As you lose weight, plug it in so you can adjust your calories, for those counting calories. ;)

Yes, I know, I'm a wealth of useless information. :lol3: You're welcome! :DHave a great day, all!

Ok I'm really considering doing this. What has ya'lls experience been as far as losing weight based on a fiber counting way of eating? I eat quite a bit of fiber but thinking if I go low calorie and high fiber maybe I can lose some weight. For anyone looking for a high fiber pasta, I buy FiberGourmet as it has half the calories of reg pasta hardly any fat and like 21 grams of fiber per serving

Hi Sluggo, a key tip from me is don't try to reduce your calories too much. You will just end up hungry.

High fibre is good because it makes you feel full for longer. And fibre in foods is bulking e.g. vegetables are bigger for the same amount of calories as most other foods. So physically you are eating more but it has fewer calories.

Read the article on fibre on nutrition wonderland website. Go into main issues and understanding our bodies to find it. This will clarify some things and give you more insight into why and how fibre is good.

if you start off with a lot of fibre it may take a moment for your digestive system to adjust so bear that in mind if you tummy starts having a strange life of its own. Keep your liquids up - i.e. water. I mean vegetables have plenty of water anyway but insoluble fibre doesn't and benefits from more water.

If i wasn't eating high fibre on my diet, i would be up the creek. Ideally you should still manage your calorie intake but you don't need to restrict it severely, you just need to reduce it from what you normally eat. Fibre foods make this easier because they are so bulking.

Tell me, when you cook a pasta dish, what does your recipe look like. I'm interested to know because so many people demonise pasta and i just can't understand why. Its never been a problem for me.

Includes vegetables at every meal. Try to eat 2.5 cups of fresh vegetables (excluding potatoes) every day, ideally 5 different types and 2 pieces of fruit.

Honestly I don't make any pasta dishes I just cook the FiberGourmet and put a little low fat parmesean cheese on it

Lillian Sorry you :hug: and your family are sick. Sure hope you are feeling better soon. Do check in when you can.

Pattience I forgot to comment on the 1000 calories. I believe that I have learned that if I eat too few calories that my body grabs every thing I eat and says "Oh, she's on a diet again, I better hold on to all this food", because sometimes my weight will go up instead of down. Then when I eat more calories, I will be surprised with a loss. Our bodies seem to know what is going on and definitely seems to know what it needs. Your salads look good and I will probably try some of them when spring hits. I got tired of salads for a while, but seem to be getting hungry for them again lately. They you used to be my favorite food. However, winter hit and homemade soups became the norm for me.

SteelsLady Thanks for the info article on the rocking chair. I sent the site to my sister who can't exercise much because of her arthritis. It made me want to bring my front porch rocker into the living room. I may put it on my enclosed back porch so I can sit and rock when I talk on the phone and when I read. How wonderful that would be to get more exercise just sitting and rocking. Who would have thought something so relaxing had so many benefits.

Sluggo88 Thanks for the heads up on the pasta. I am always looking for one with more fiber.

I did the 4.5 miles on the bike today and thought, "I think I can go 5." Curiosity got the best of me and I just had to see if I could do 5 miles in 45 minutes and guess what? I did it. I was tired and took a nap after, but I was excited that I did make it and I was amazed to see that my hip that I injured years ago and aches most of the time, stopped hurting. When I used to do Walk Away the Pounds, my hip would hurt for a while, but eventually there came a time that it didn't hurt any more. Evidently 45 minutes on the bike stops the pain in my hip. Tomorrow will be a break from the bike, but we will go to Charlotte to Costco and probably between going to Costco and Walmart, I'll get close to an hour of walking. I do the 45 minutes on the bike again on Thursday and Friday or Saturday. Another benefit of the 45 minutes is that I sleep at night like a baby.

My totals are 1553 Calories, 1928 Sodium and 41 Fiber. This is going great.

Trish, good job with the exercise.

Sluggo, thanks for clarifying. I suppose you mean its a packet recipe. We don't have that here. i never really know what people mean by half the foods they mention because we have different ones in Australia. I tend to assume that foods i don't know must be out of a packet though.

What i do for pasta is spaghetti - its really my favourite by a along shot. I like a fairly thin spaghetti. I don't buy fibre pasta because i get plenty of pasta from everything else. - Anyway i used to do other things but my lazy way now is to buy a jar of pasta sauce, only ever the tomato sauce varieties. I would never buy a white one. If i am really lazy i will just use 1/2 cup of tomato and toss the cooked spaghetti in it at the end. But usually i prefer to sauté or steam some vegies first and then add that into the toss with the sauce and cooked spaghetti. I usually but not always add about 1 tbsp of finely grated parmesan cheese. I always use ground black pepper and if i was need oil, olive oil is my oil of choice.

Mushrooms are a good vegie downs this way. I can sauté them in 1tsp of oil. Or i might add broccoli or zucchini. It makes the whole meal go further for very few extra calories but plenty of good extra nutrition.

Today i was in the city for lunch and dinner. I enjoyed a vietnamese meal of chick with rice noodles and 1/2 cop of salad. and later in the afternoon, i had a korean thing which had alfalfa sprouts a raw egg and fish eggs and rice. Very tasty. I was famished by 5pm so i had dinner there, did one more job and then drove home. i've had a glass of wine but don't feel the need of any more dinner. I'm tired though and hope to go to bed early.

Hi Folks... :wave: Just wanted to say I stop tracking fiber and now fasting method. Its more simple for me. I won't post on this thread and wishing everyone on here good luck with fiber counting. Take Care..

Thanks for letting us know. How long are you going to do that for Lilian? Will you go from fasting method to something else at a set point in time?

Best of luck to you, Liliann- wishing you success! :hug: I hope you and your family are feeling better, too. So sorry you all got sick with that nasty flu bug- I hope your sister is feeling better now.

Lillian Sorry to see you leave. Hope you find the way of eating that works for you. Good luck. Hope you and your family are feeling better.

Today's totals 1592 calories, 2762 sodium (over limit because ate out at Long John Silvers. Ate only 1 fillet, 3 shrimp, 1/4th of the fries shouldn't have eaten any of the fries as they made me sick and ate 1/2 the cole slaw. Fiber is 30 g. Tummy is still a litle upset from eating out. I tell you it is getting to where eating out isn't much of a pleasure to me any more. One it all has way too much sodium and something in it always makes me sick. Of course, so many places use vegetable oil, I think, and I use healthier fats when I cook. So I may not be able to eat food cooked in the oil they use. After all these hours, I can still taste it.

I had a busy day with my darling son- we went grocery shopping, then to the Co Op for lunch, then we both got haircuts. Boy is it ever windy out- poor kid had a hard time keeping his car from going in the other lane- other drivers were struggling as well. I've never seen people drive so slowly up here- even in North Easters, they've gone faster. Crazy weather, ugh!

I had a very high fiber day- the Co Op had basically vegetarian options mostly today. Had some delicious tofu for protein and lots and lots of veggies and a fruit and nut bar (flour less).

Pattience- I thought of you when I was buying some unsalted peanuts to make my peanut butter- there was some unsalted sunflower seeds in a jar, and in your honor, I picked them up today. :D I made some peanut butter in the NutriBullet- I filled it up to the max line with unsalted peanuts, added one teaspoon of safflower oil (I forgot my list at home today and forgot to pick up peanut oil, ggrrrrrrrrrrrrr)- it tastes amazing, just like I remember it. You can really taste the peanut flavor without the salt added to it. Next time, I just might toss in some sunflower seeds- my daughter was telling me about the sunflower butter they have at the daycare she works at- they use it instead of peanut butter due to allergies for some kids. She said it tastes great- one of these days, I'll try making it and see how it tastes.

Trish- that is awesome how long you rode the recumbent bike yesterday- good for you, and way to go!!!!! Keep it up, the longer you do it, the easier it becomes. I love my recumbent bike- I usually play music on my tablet loaded with videos from You Tube of my favorite rock bands, while playing Pet Sage or some game. Time passes so fast when I am doing something else while peddling. I did something funny yesterday- decided to pumps my arms like I was running while peddling- got some cardio done doing that, lol.

I'm glad you liked that article on the rocking chairs and porch swings. I remember noticing in previous summers how strong my calves and thighs got, just from sitting out for a couple of hours at night. I wish I could use them all year long, unfortunately, summer's way too short. Looking forward to using them again this year, especially after this long winter!

I noticed your ticker went down a little bit more- woohoo!!!!!!!! :carrot: You are doing marvelous!

TamTam- how are you doing? Anything we can help you with? I hope you are doing well!

sluggo- thanks so much for the FiberGourmet tip- going to order some on Friday or whenever they re-stock their spaghetti. They don't sell it up here unfortunately, so I will have to order online. I'm going to buy the bulk packages, if you order over $35.00 worth of products, they have free shipping. Saw some crackers and a couple of other things I want to try along with the pastas- so glad you shared this with us!

aleka- how are you doing my NH friend? I thought of you today when I accidentally found the YMCA with my son. :rofl: We went down the wrong street and found it- never knew it was that close. Do you go there? My hubby and his family used to go to the Y in their town, but we've never managed to buy a membership there- too expensive for us. I should check out their membership and see what they offer. I have a Planet Fitness account, but unfortunately, never use it. I miss going to PF, but I had signed up with my best friend and daughter in their town in Massachusetts and use it when I am there but only once up here with my hubby- doesn't it figure I got very sick with pneumonia a few days later and didn't recover for over three months. I'm a wee bit paranoid to go back, even though I know it had nothing to do with PF. Kinda sad, isn't it?

Anyhow, I am taking a break from cardio workouts today. I might do some trim and tone gentle exercises in a few minutes, but I've been going for over 10 days now either working hard in the pool for over two hours or riding the recumbent bike for two hours a day. My body needs a rest. :D

Have a great night, all! Have a fabulous high fiber Thursday!

That's why I only eat at three restaurants now. I refuse to eat at the others anymore. My body cannot tolerate those gross, greasy, MSG and sodium infested meals anymore. They are a poison to me! Any time I ate at those other restaurants, I would come home exhausted, achy in my joints, and so bloated, I would gain 3-5 pounds, even when I chose the healthier options and didn't have dessert!

Do you have a Co Op near you? Why not look online for an all natural cafe/store near you, and give it a try?

My son loved the tuna fish wrap he got today, along with their fried rice- so funny, he added salt to his, because he said it needed it. I told him, buddy, listen to me- that's the way it is supposed to taste- your taste buds are so used to salt and sugar from the other restaurants, they don't know what real food tastes like.

He wanted to go to a Chinese buffet today, I told him, no way, no how, but I would take him out to eat at the Co Op. He really enjoyed it, he got a homemade all natural whoopie pie for dessert while I got the fruit and nut bar (flour less) and he enjoyed his lunch thoroughly. When he eats too much sodium, like me, his skin gets red like a sun burn and he bloats up. I don't cook with salt at home, never have, but it is some sauces and the restaurants that he eats out with friends at are loaded with it. I am gently trying to convince him to lower his sodium intake. He has been doing well, but being a young kid, it's hard to resist those yummy wings at his favorite restaurant.

Seriously, though- if I were you, I would look into some natural food cafes. They're really not that expensive, and I will tell you one reason why- because the food is natural and homemade without all the garbage added to it- you actually eat less of it and feel FULLER! That was something I have noticed the four times I have gone to the Co Op this past month- I am full, the food is excellent, and I don't feel bloated and exhausted.

I just hope you don't have a gain tomorrow from the sodium- the high fiber seems to be working for you, I'd hate to see it discourage you if you gain a couple of pounds back from the sodium. Flush it out with lots of water tomorrow, if you do gain from it. ;)

Trish, over here in Australia vegetable oils are not deemed a problem. Are you sure they are a problem there. Its the trans fats that are the problem. Couldn't you ask the kitchen when you go out if they use it/ask for an alternative type of cooking oil. Peanut oil should be good.

I was always under the impression that transfast were mainly used when food was deep fried. Oh yeah the chips would probably be done that way.

I think but may be corrected but transfats are in solid form. If its in liquid form, it wouldn't be transfat.

Steelslady, good on your for making your own PB. Here one of the problems is also added sugar. Lots of sugar and salt and added oil in the PB. I mean i quite like PB but for me its too high fat anyway. The more fat i eat the less "food" i can eat because i'm monitoring calories too.

My lentil salad today

1 cup brown lentils, rinsed
1 stick celery
chunk cucumber
1/2 cup lettuce leaves
1/4 avocado
6 hazelnuts (any nuts fine, except brazil or macadamia because they are so very high in fat. so you need to reduce quantity)
balsamic vinegar to taste
black pepper

Well, the good thing about being sick when I got home is that this morning my scales were down. I even lost the 2 lbs I had gained plus a little more so I'm down to 226.2 lbs. I did the 5 lbs again and it took me 46 minutes instead of 45. It feels good to have it all done. Technically I'm actually done with my planned exercises for the week. However, I want to start doing Tai Chi, I've heard once a week is all you need to do of it. So I thought I would start it tomorrow. My son used to do it and tells me it will really do wonders. My doctor like the idea when I told him I wanted to do it. My son said that at this point in my exercising is a good time to start doing it.

My totals for today are 1775 Calories, 2103 mg sodium and 41 g fiber.

Pattience I think you are the one who talked about cooking split pea soup. And then I saw it made in The Flat Belly Diet book. So made it today. I just put different veggies that I wanted to put in it and made it. I ate half of it for lunch today and will have the other half tomorrow. Also bought some avocados at Costco yesterday and had 1/4 of one with my eggs this morning. I actually ended up eating on meatless meal today at lunch and I have to say I really enjoyed it and it has been good for my tummy too. :)

SteelsLady It is hard to find unsalted peanuts here, but I will have to look for it and try my hand at making my own. Did you use peanut oil? I wonder how it would taste with some other oil like coconut or olive oil.

Aleka & Sluggo :wave: