[Fat in Hong Kong]

Bella, yes I already have one of the WATP cd's and used to do it regularly, but unfortunately for me, like most things to do with exercise, the novelty wore off after a while. The reality is that I've just been plain lazy!! I always feel so tired when I get home from work, and always end up putting things off until tomorrow. I know I can't carry on like this. That's why I'm determined to go out for that walk today before dinner!! It's going to kill me to get out there but I know I have to do it. Hubby has been very encouraging ... He does lots of hiking and I'd love to be able to go with him, but we're just not at the same fitness levels and I find it too difficult to keep up with him, and also some of the hikes he goes on a pretty strenuous and you need to be ultra fit. I feel really left out as I know that if I'd never let myself get so overweight and unfit, I'd be joining him on these hikes. That's one of my ultimate goals ... to get fit and be able to join him ... I said that last year, but this time I mean it!!

I'll probably only be able to manage 30mins or so this evening, but at least it's a start right?!

Nichola

[Daisy Boo]

aargh! i am not doing oh so well after the weekend.

I am in the same rut as you Nichola - just plain lazy. I had some bad foods over the weekend and although it has not been so bad today, I still feel bad about myself.

I did manage a 15 minute walk tonight - even though it has been raining all day and was threatening to begin again. I figured "just get up and do it!". So I did. Only a small amount but better than nothing, yeah?

I bought my first official low GI cookbook today. Some wonderful receipes that I am looking forward to trying. There are actually some in there that will be good 'transportable' meals so I can take them to work for lunch. That is one of my vices - going out and buying something not overly the best for me.

I understand what you mean Nichola, about the active BF. My BF cycles and is getting into training to begin competing in triathlons. I feel left out as he cycles, his nephew cycles, his father cycles, his sister cycles and her BF cycles. And now, BF's kids are doing triathlons for kids! I am actually thinking that it might be a good goal for me - to compete in a triathlon. Just a minor one but all the same would be good to have an interest with the BF and family.

The other vice I have to overcome is the evening drinky-poo. I like to come home and wind down with a couple of bourbon and diet cokes but I know it is adding to my weight problem. I am an avid believer that alcohol contributes largly to weightloss. When I moved to my current location (I moved 2000kms) I stopped drinking all together and exercised and just ate sensibly. I was living at home with my parents so ate what they ate for dinner. I lost 20kg over a 6 month period. Unfortunately, when I was at the maintaining stage, I moved out again and in with some friends and again came the bad lifestyle of takeout food and drinking. I eventually put all that weight back on, and then some, over about 2 years.

So I know I can do it, I just have to get out of the comfort zone I suppose. Any tips? How do I motivate myself?

Sorry to vent so long, just thinking out loud really. Need some support.

[barbie40]

I am just oing to start the GI diet. I purchased the rick gallop book(i have skimmed it in the past) I have the gI revolution and find it very helpful but I find the rick gallop recipes most very tastey my nieghbour has been useing the book too. So I am offically Starting on Tuesday Sept 13(maybe my lucky day!!!!!!) It is nice to see there are some people doing this diet I call it a lifestyle plan. It is veyr good for you ans it is reccommended for diabetics. Hope to talk someone soon.

[Daisy Boo]

Hi Barbie and welcome

I have the GI Revolution books too. They were the only ones I could find in the local book shop but like the way they are set out. Not too involved for you to get afraid of the diet, but enough information to get you going for life.

Good luck and if you need support, drop me a line sometime.

[Fat in Hong Kong]

Hi Barbie, good to have you join us Good luck with starting your new 'GI Lifestyle today!!' I think we're all pretty new at GI'ing so any tips we can give to each other will help.

Daisy, don't get me started on the 'drinky-poos' thing! It's probably the main thing that has sabotaged my attempts to lose weight over the years. I can easily stick with my daily calorie allowance ... then hubby comes home from work and suggests we have a glass of red with dinner ... but of course, it's never only one glass, before you know it the bottles gone and that's a few hundred more calories on top of my allowance! Every Sunday we say that we're not going to drink during the week ... but by Monday evening ... Hubby works very long hours and when he gets home we like to enjoy a drink (or two) and catch up on our day ... I guess I'm going to have to reduce my food intake to accommodate it!

Well done on getting out there for a walk ... doesn't matter how long it was for ... you were exercising!! I managed to walk for 35 mins but it nearly killed me ... and the dog!! Wasn't so much that I overdid it, but the temperature last night when I went was 29'c and the humidity level was 86% ... not great for outdoor activity ... especially for someone overweight and unfit!! But I'm determined to keep it up!

So, how do we motivate ourselves? Well, as you've already said, you've managed to do it before (so have I!) so you know that it is possible. We just need to be in the right frame of mind to stick at it. One of the most important things, I think, is that when we have a bad day (or weekend!), we shouldn't feel bad about ourselves ... no one's perfect ... life isn't perfect ... and things aren't always as straight forward as we would like them to be.

There will always be obstacles in our way ... a birthday, someone's wedding, a holiday, or just the weekend! But I think the key is not to get mad at ourselves and think, "Oh well, I've ruined it now so there's no point in carrying on ... I'll start again next week!" That just leads us into the vicious circle of yo-yoing and we never get anywhere ... it's what's I've been doing for years!! A friend of mine on these boards a while ago always used to say, "You are only a failure if you give up completely." ... She lost a huge amount of weight, but it took her years of attempts to finally do it. Well, I haven't given up ... I'll keep on trying, and I know that one day it will happen ... I AM NOT GOING TO BE A FAILURE!

I had a bit of a heart to heart with my hubby at the weekend ... I was feeling really low about my weight. He was very encouraging and said that he knew I could do it and he would help me as much as he can (even though he must be sick and tired of me constantly talking about losing weight and never doing anything about it!). He asked me a couple of simple questions: Are you happy with yourself the way you are? ... Answer: No! ... Do you want to be slim again? ... Answer: Yes! ... Then he said, "Well you owe it to yourself to do it then, you deserve to be happy ... do it for yourself."

What more can I say? It really is that simple when you think about it, isn't it?

Nichola

[Pherrise]

Thanks everyone, I will definately look into the cookbooks suggested

I have taken a bold step in my exercising. I am parking about 2 blocks away from my job and walking to and from work everyday . Well, its a overflow lot owned by the company that is actually DOWNHILL from the building. I am actually surprised that I am not winded when I get to work...THIS IS GREAT.. now if only the scale will move..DOWNHILL...lol

[barbie40]

HI there everyone> today is evolving into a success so far. I tried the a gi recipe and it was great
it was waldorf chicken and rice salad very filling and great!!!!!!

3/4 cup basmati rice or brown cooked
1 med. apple chopped
1 or 2 stalks of celery
1/4 c walnuts
4 oz chicken cooked chopped
1 tblsp light buttermilk dressing
place in a bowl and mix keep in fridge til lunch

I used brown rice and I did not have any cooked chicken so I used 1/2 cup chick peas the dressing I used was Low fat greek I like to use a favorite dressing because it is what adds the flavor.

I also made some muffibs from the book too.(GI diet) Very yummy page 172

I hope you are all having a great day too. It is only 2:50 pm here so I hope I can continue(feel so full it should not be hunger that gets me) Evenings are always the worst for me. I have to keep busy and sometimes that is hard after being busy all day. My kids go to bed at 830 900 and my husband works shifts and 12 hour ones to boot so I do spend afew evenings alone. I just have to muster up the will power for those hours.

It is nice to hear that we all seem to struggle with the same things. I think I will be enjoyng this lifestyle change and being here with you ladies. I would like to get my husband to eat more of these foods and one of my daughters too( the yougest like s most of the food I make so she is not a problem) any suggestions?
Better go
Barbie

[Pherrise]

Hi Barbie, what worked for my daughter (which helped her lose 9+ lbs...!) was just a gradual change, from white bread to wheat bread, then to whole wheat bread. She doesn't like the whole grain, so she is sticking with the whole wheat. Then, to show that they are not missing out on the "good" stuff, have a couple of those around, but show the serving sizes. That really got to my daughter... it really surprises her that when she grabs a Mountain Dew (diet now of course) that there are 2.5 servings in the bottle, and if she drinks the whole thing she has to multiply the calories times 2.5..... Or even Poptarts, that the serving size is really 1, not the packaged 2.

She now looks at all the labels and even counts out every pretzel or chip, when she has them.

Its definately a change, but done right and in small amounts can make a big difference.

[Pherrise]

Daisy, what was the Low-GI cookbook you bought? I am looking for quick and easy lunches for myself.

[Daisy Boo]

Hi Pherisse

The book is called The Low GI Diet Cookbook.

It is an accompanient for the original Low GI Diet which I also have. I think that the cookbook has only just come out as it is not yet listed on the website www.glycemicindex.com. The onle on the front page (pink book) is the original GI Book I have which is great.

Cookbook

I hope this helps.

Mind you - I am more than happy to share the receipes on here! Might save you some bucks! let me know

[Fat in Hong Kong]

Hi Everyone!

Glad to hear things are going well with you all I managed to go walking again last night for 35mins ... almost didn't go as I was late preparing dinner and the kids were moaning that they were hungry, but decided to just get my trainers on and go for it ... I'm pleased to say that I'm glad I did

Barbie, I managed to switch my husband and kids over to GI foods without them noticing really. Hubby wanted a more healthy diet anyway because he has problems with high blood pressure (that's why I keep telling him to lay off the red wine!!) and I didn't tell the kids that it was 'GI Food' because it's all pretty normal stuff ... just more healthy than some of the stuff they sometimes eat!! They don't really need to lose any weight so my son and daughter still have their treats, pizza or whatever, now and again. But mostly we eat the same things for dinner ... I'm damned if I'm going to be cooking different things for the whole family at dinner time. Just don't tell them what you're doing ... most of the recipes that I've tried have been so yummy that the kids have asked for them again!

Oh, one question about your rice recipe ... is that 3/4 cup of cooked rice, or 3/4 cup of dried rice then cooked? And how many serving is that for? Thanks!

Nichola

[barbie40]

Nichola The amopunt of rice is after it is cooked. I 4 times the recipe by cooking up 1 cup of rice which equals 3 cups and stored it in the fridge for quick lunches and or suppers This is 1 serving beleive it or not!!!!

Daisy I have eaten fairly healthy for a long time now just have to keep doing it. I kw=now wht to do I just do not do it all the time which I have to because when i slip I gain easily.

Pherrise Some of those recipes would be great ecspecially soups and snacks and dinners and suppers that are fast and easy.

Hope your days are going wel I am so glad I found you you guys I really enjoy this site and the sharing and caring is wonderful.

If this note is sort of repeated I had trouble positng my first one and had to rewrite it quickly because I need to go. So sorry if this is a little duplicate.

Barbie

[surfer376]

Just wanted to come in and say hello!
I have been reading this thread off and on all day trying to get as much info on GI diet as I can. Can't get the book till Monday.....and I really just can't wait that long I just have to know...
Thanks in advance for all the help!
Chari

[barbie40]

Hi there all I just thought I would touch base and say tha tI have been going ok so far. I find the changes easy to make and am enjoying the foods a lot. We are off for a day of shopping just my 2 girls ages 8 and 10 so that should be fun. Hope yuo all have a great day and stay with your plans.

Barbie

[NoChick]

Hi there
Do you think that rice make us fat ?