[Carguy]

Well it's been 7 weeks and I'm down 30 pounds. I've been doing on of those order food plans. I know not the best but it seems to be working. The plan does have me making 6 of my own meals a week. I've got 20 more to go. I'm never going back. I know now that my body can't process food like I did in the old days. So glad I made this choice.

[LameGothMom]

Congrats! What's the biggest struggle for you in terms of preparing food?

[Carguy]

I think I'm easy in that department. I eat the same thing for my lunches 3oz of tuna in water, 1/4 cup chick peas, 1/4 cup black beans. That's twice a week. For dinner (twice a week) I just follow some of the recipes on their WEB pages. I also cook lots of vegetables with no salt and spray olive oil. I also have a wonderful wife who helps me. I think my biggest struggle is I don't eat with my family all the time. I try to but sometimes my eating schedule is different. One thing that filled me up was a vegetable soup we made out of salt free vegetable broth, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, chick peas, tomato. It kept me on track in the beginning.

[Old Biddy]

Congratulations!

I'm also food-prep challenged so I eat a lot of the same thing as well. Isn't it great to not need the extra salt to have things taste good?

[LameGothMom]

Seasoning your food with salt after meal prep only accounts for 5-10% of your daily sodium intake. Besides, if your kidneys are healthy and you don't have diabetes, hypertension, or cardiac issues, it shouldn't impact you too much.

Men especially need a considerable amount of protein. Don't be afraid to have simple on hand snacks like roasted chicken or boiled eggs. In my experience, this helps yield faster results.

[Lacerta]

Way to go! If you can do the first 30, you've got it down for the last 20, no problem!

And I agree with LameGothMom. My mom keeps telling me that I shouldn't put any salt on my veggies when I roast them. But humans do need some sodium to function. I don't think she realizes how much sodium I cut out of my diet when I stopped eating processed foods. Even with the pinch of salt I put on the roasted veggies, I'm still only taking in a TINY fraction of the sodium I used to ingest. My blood pressure has dropped from 160/105 to 120/80.

My point is that while you definitely should watch your salt intake, don't go overboard. If you are eating healthy, a little bit of salt on your veggies to make them taste good isn't the end of the world. It doesn't take much. I cook an entire sheet pan of roasted veggies and only use maybe 2 pinches of salt for the whole sheet.

[Carguy]

Thanks everyone. I do use turkey as a snack. My wife bought a turkey breast and cooked it for 2 hours (it was big). Then she packed it into 2oz. bags for me. I also eat eggs and edamame. I have now started adding a bit of salt on my veggies. I've never been a big salt guy. Today a work someone asked me when I'm going to get more pants. Ha! When I reach my goal!! Then I'm going shopping.

[denver_determined]

Wow! Amazing! Keep up the great work. It's motivating to read about the success of others.