Thanks Nancy~
I checked around yesterday and found most said approx. 1600. I think it's a little high, so I was thinking approx 1400-1500 to start. I'm still trying to plan out my snacks and meals. I started my blog, but having you around daily definitely helps. No pressure intended.
I'm over my bad day. It was just that. bad choices. I'm back on track.
I've also thought about WW, but I think I will give the calorie counting a chance. What do you eat for snacks?

Air popped popcorn is great for a snack, 2 cups has 40 Cals and I use a popcorn seasoning on it that tastes just like Smart food when is all said and done.

As Ever
Me

Mmmmmmm..........Smartfood! :--)
What kind of seasoning makes it taste like smartfood? Do they still make air popcorn poppers? Botzz, I check in with your blog daily. You are so detailed, which is very helpful. Thanks!
How old are your children? I have a 17 yr old daughter who is graduating this year, a 14 yr old daughter, who is my little athlete, and my 8, almost 9 yr old son. He's just a busy boy, and boy can he eat. The trick with him, is to keep healthy food stocked up in the house. I'm not looking forward to his teen years. I know how much I consumed as an athletic teen.
Those were the days when you could pretty much eat anything, and because of the activities, not have to worry about it. These are the rooted problems I have to come to grips with. :--) I'm not active like I was in high school, there for, neither should be my food consumption. Pretty simple concept, yet so difficult to change. The subconscious mind is a very powerful thing.
Must get control of it! And here I am..... a work in progress.
Chat w/ you soon.
Sandy

"forgive and forget" - what an empowering statment! It helps us to begin fresh again the next day. It may sound simple but it is actually quite powerful - thanks skm

Thanks HelenMay!
Your presence here means a lot to me. I am finding a lot of strength in complete strangers. Fellow CT folks with similar struggles. I have come to believe, with all of the reading I have done on this site, that we will one day be a success story too! If we keep at it, we will attain our goals. There is no room for negativity, only forgiveness and positive actions.
How often are you going to weigh in? We should pick a day. I try to get on the scale daily, but one "official" way in per week. I have to go buy a calorie book tomorrow. Something I can throw in my purse, if I need to.
Sandy

Popcorn is a great snack. I go for the 100 calorie packs to easily keep track. Just don't breathe the fumes!

Mostly though I try and pair my snacks so that I make sure to get both protein and carbs to help keep things balanced. If I eat just a piece of fruit for example then I will be hungry really quickly. My afternoon snack before hitting the gym is usually a piece of fruit (normally apple or pear) and then either a string cheese or cottage cheese cup. Normally my after workout snack is a Luna bar. They aren't the greatest, but they are so easy to thrown in my gym bag and forget about.

I weigh almost every day, but I only count Thursdays. Weigh in at the same time on the same scale. The trick here is if you are a person that gets easily upset if you see the scale go up, don't weigh every day. Your weight will fluctuate on a day to day basis based on a number of factors - mostly to do with water retention.

Hey Sandy! Thanks for your comment on my blog. My shrimp salad really was pretty, huh?!
About the calorie thing: I think 1200 is a good number to shoot for. I wouldn't feel bad at all, though, if I went up to 1500 occasionally (like on the weekend or something like that). I am a little leary about whether that "1200" number really is low enough to produce results. Only time will tell I suppose. I'm going to do the 1200 calorie thing for a couple of months just to see how it works out, and if I get results, I'll keep it up until I lose all the weight I need to lose (50 pounds). If, after a couple of months, I have not lost any weight (God forbid!!) then I may try lowering my daily caloric intake to 1000 or something. I'll get some advice from my doctor about that before I try anything like that though. Let's hope that the 1200 calorie thing will work, though!!
I have tried to give up on the idea of losing weight quickly. Like you said, it took years to gain, it surely can't just come off all at once. (if it did, I bet you anything that it would come back just as quickly). I think the best way to lose weight is just to resolve to do it slowly. I hope that I can lose my weight in the next 6 months, but I'm not going to give up if I've only lost 10 over the next 6 months. Because 10 pounds is something, right?! If I lose 10 pounds in 6 months instead of all 50, then I'll just have to try to lose the remaining 40 pounds over the next couple of years. Think about how long we all plan on living. I hope to live well into my 80's...
A couple of years isn't that long to have to watch what we eat in order to be more healthy and look better! Not that we can just quit after that!! Plus, we all know that becoming healthier eaters will add years to our life, no doubt!!

Hello everyone! I have had a great "food" day today. On thedailyplate.com, they say for me to lose 2 lbs a week, I should consume 1475 calories a day. I still have 885 to go. I am going to have a big salad w/ grilled chicken, but I still think I am way under. Maybe I will have "dessert"? Some yogurt or ff pudding. I will have to calculate my big salad, and add for the dressing. we'll see.
I ran some errands today, but that doesnt count as exercise. Maybe I should get a pedometer. I am up and down quite a bit throughout the day! How many steps is good? I thought I remembered something like 10K. I take 200 steps to go check my mail, then that leaves me 9,800. LOL
And all this water, has me going to the bathroom many times in the day. : )
Hope all of you are well, and keeping up things at your end.
Will check back later.
Sandy

Great job sticking to it sandy! I found the dailyplate is a great resource to help get a feel for how many calories certain foods have, and a great tracker!
definitely try to stick with what they say for calories - eating too generally hurts instead of helps. one thing i found from using daily plate was i wasn't losing for a long time because i ate too little for my active lifestyle. they told me i needed around 1580 calories a day, and i was barely clearing 1100- not on purpose - i thought i was eating much more! I upped my calories and started losing almost right away.. i've slowed down a little, but i think that has something to do with slowing down a little on the gym visits.. i gave up the gym membership expense in order to take a job closer to home .. i can't wait until it gets just a little warmer - i want to go for walks instead of doing videos from on demand in my living room! speaking of weather, it is GROSS out today. all this rain! yuck!

good morning all! Karmuz it's really icky here in eastern CT also. Lots of rain, some thunder/lightning earlier. Thanks for the tip on cal vs activity level. I will keep my eye on things. Can you, or anyone tell me, when calorie counting, try to get "x" amount of calories per meal and per snack? Yesterday, I ended up eating more than half my calories from dinner onto evening snack. I'm thinking they would be better spread out more evenly, but I could be wrong.
A good note- I was talking with a good friend last night on the phone, and she gave me an inside tip on a job. I have some legal expenses due to divorce/custody battle. So I'm going to check it out today, if the rain lets up a bit. Everyone keep your fingers crossed. I need to keep busy as well, and I'm sure this will encourage weight loss as well. OH, what will I wear to an interview? lol. I joke because I have beaten myself up about this so many times in the past, A job is more concerned with what you offer them, than if you are wearing a Donna Karan suit. I'll throw together something. I always do.
Will check back later. Hope all is going well with everyone. Thank you again for taking the time to check in.

Sorry for the late response Sandy, I didn't see the post until right now the seasoning I use is the White cheddar from fireworks popcorn co http://www.popcornlovers.com/p-32-po...seasoning.aspx
I use less than 1 serving (which is 5 cals per serv) and it tastes just like smart food popcorn to me, and my wife agrees Walmart has air poppers for about $16 that work great, we make a big bowl and portion it into 2 cup bags and keep them handy.

Thanks for keeping up with my blog, its good to know people are reading it and taking an interest in how I am doing, keeping it detailed is keeping me on track. also thanks for the comments. My kids are 9 and 2 and the 2 year old keeps me on my toes, I wish there was a way to package her energy, I would be a rich man.

As Ever
Me

The weather today was crazy!

In regard to spreading calories, it really doesn't make that much of a difference except in how it affects you. A lot of people find that they are less hungry throughout the day if they eat a larger breakfast. Some like to eat smaller amounts every couple of hours. There are a lot of people that say you shouldn't eat a lot at night or say after a certain time. From my reading there has been no actual documentation on this and really it doesn't matter when you eat. At the same time, it is good to eat something every four hours or so in order to keep your metabolism running. In my opinion the most important thing is that if you know you are prone to eat most of your calories at night, make sure to save some for then.

Hello everyone! Another good day at the eating table. I am about 160 calories short, but I approx w/ my dinner tonight. I tried to over guess, just to be safe.
to say the least, I am comfortably full. YEAH!
didnt exercise, but feel like I'm working thru whatever blocks I have re: exercise. I'm confident, with a small sign of weight loss, I will be additionally motivated to exercise.
TGIF!

Just a quick note - checking in. I hopped on the scale yesterday, as I was curious. Lost 2 lbs, unofficially. I am weighing in on Thursday. I was thrilled.
I did have some physical activity today. I had music on and was "dancing" or at least trying to. It was fun, and I definitely got my heart rate up.
hope everyone is doing well this weekend.

congrats on the unoffical WL!!! !! and good luck with the job, as well!


looks like we're preparing for snow now too... GREAT! not looking forward to this one.