ArtCat, I did get some of both But I made sure it stayed just a taste.

Meanwhile I was stuck with my weight for a bit, but after ordering Pizza and eating it all to, my weight dropped. I guess I was to low on calories. AGAIN.

Yesterday I ate a New York Steak, with some New York potato salad and a big bowl of mixed salad
My animals love me again, since they always get the fatty rim of the steak.
Dessert was 1 granola bar with chocolate

This evening I ate 3 hot-dog's with two pieces of whole wheat toast and mustard, ketchup onions and relish. Later I had a big bowl of mixed salad.
Dessert was 1 rip of dark chocolate....

Forgot to mention.

Breakfast the last two day's was
Full Grain Bread Sandwich (just love them toasted), with tomato slices and salad leaves.

Lunch was Fruit (Apple and peaches), with some string cheese

Where did you all go?

I'm here. I took a long break due to a really bad year. I gladly said good-bye to 2010 and welcomed 2011 with cheer. I thought I was really headed on a great course of positiveness but was tested this week. I thought my PhD application was all but accepted. I got the acceptance letter yesterday though without funding. It's like someone giving me a picture of a favorite candy bar--nice but nothing to eat.

I had planned a long time ago that I'd get Ben & Jerry's Chunky Monkey the day I got my acceptance letter. With disappointment, I binged on Breyer's ice cream and chinese food (yesterday and today).

I have--however--been successfully back on my volumetrics for the past month and have lost 4 pounds. These past eight to ten weeks have been so much improved. I've got a great handle on all the physical complications suffered in 2010 and work stresses. So, I'm alright but very disappointed.

I have found that I'm pretty good a calorie counting without counting. I prefer to just eat routine meals that I already have great portion sense on. If I go to my favorite Thai restaurant, I've now found an awesome substitue for my regular Pad Thai dish (steamed veggies with peanut sauce and tofu).

So, I'm back on track. I also have restarted writing up in my blog (Young Grasshopper) and checking in here at 3fatchicks.

I do hope you're well. What's new? Are you maintaining or losing? I hope to lose 10-15 pounds. I don't have a scale but I'm trying to get in to my summer clothes and lose an additional 7 pounds (goal at mid-BMI weigt). I'll keep checking in here. Hope to keep up the dialogue!

Well, I'm not doing very well either. My daughter's getting married in July, so I'm supposed to be losing the last 30 lbs so I can look normal for her wedding. Instead, I hurt my back and have been stuck doing physical therapy and being careful for the last 3 months. I haven't gained, but I haven't lost, either.

Hey, I think "haven't gained" is a great win! Want to check in here and lose 15 in 15 together? I'm hoping to lose 15 pounds by about July 1 (I think that's 16 weeks).

I'm trying to up my volumetrics foods and rustle up my old recipes. I've kind of increased some. It's been two years since I read all my volumetrics and low energy density food articles. So, I'm going to pull these out. I tend to surround myself with the topic on my mind until I exhaust it--or it exhausts me. I just checked out: http://www.livestrong.com/article/19...ity-foods-list. Back then, I also liked www.nutritiondata.com because it had food density info on each item.

Yes! You're on! I could really use someone to do this with- my husband hasn't been much help. I'm really rusty on the Volumetrics stuff, too, so I also need to read up on all that. I tried following this diet called the 4 Hour Body diet plan, but I should know better by now. I may have lost a pound or two over the 2 months I was on it, but nothing like what I needed or expected. So now I'm back to what I know works.

I'm with you on heading back to what works. I am dusting off all the old strategies. I thought your 4 hour body diet was the strategy of eating every 4 hours. I looked it up (http://gizmodo.com/#!5709913/4+hour-...slow+carb-diet) and thought lots of it makes sense. Is this it? What wasn't working for you?

Well Saturday was a bit of a bust. I'm proud to have got off my aerobics in the early morning (first off).

However, foodwise was not great. I have been trying to support my older son (11yrs) and his developing new friends at his new school. He finally invited a friend over to our house Thursday (a really sweet boy). I invited the boy and his family over for pancake breakfast on Saturday. Unfortunately, my son only invited the boy and not the whole family while also my husband and younger son went off for soccer. I ended up with piles and piles of beautiful sausages and home-made cardamom spiced buttermilk pancakes--and two kids. I devoured half of the sausages and eight pancakes. I was so stuffed I thought I wouldn't eat again. By 7pm I was "mentally hungry" and popped popcorn for the family. I ate a few cups of dry pop corn with low-cal cheddar cheese melted on top. Not a horrible horrible day (I can eat enough cheese pizza and ice cream that could fell an ogre) but not a day for medals.

An extra note is that I've been eating vegetarian for about four or so years. But give me a pile of sausages and I can control myself. Argh!

So, today's a new day. I've had my microwave bread pudding concoction (310 cals). I'm exercising today (500+ cals), too.

I am trying to follow the volumetrics plan of eating frequently. My successful weight loss of 2009 found me eating every four hours--pretty much like clockwork. I eat brkfst at 6:30am, first lunch at 10am, last lunch at 2pm, and dinner at 6pm.

I have found my favorite chinese meal (general tso tofu) is about 800 calories. So, I'll frequently combine my two lunches in to one mid-day meal. However, it's not efficient for the body to not eat for six to eight hours. I'm trying to reduce those combined meals and stay at 300-400 cal meals. In fact, I'm trying to aim back down to 300 to 350 so that my overall day is 1300.

I'm totally tossed around today because of that lost hour. My son called me while I was at the grocery store. He asked if I've changed the clocks and I realized that we totally just lost a whole hour of Sunday. I really dread these annual loss of hours (no matter that we gain it back in the Fall--those are completely earned all year long).

Hope Sunday is going strong with you. Any new/old ideas on deck for food/exercise?

Wow how nice this thread is still around.

I've had an absolutely horrific last two years. Because of it I flitted from eating plan to eating plan, wasting my money. I believe I did this in a schizo attempt to divert myself from my troubles!

My life has calmed down, and I am now ready to reclaim my health and go back to what worked for me. I've dusted out the four good Volumetrics themed books I have:

The Diet Denominator (my favorite).
Volumetrics (the one that started it all!)
Volumetrics Eatin Plan
Asian Slim Secrets (written by Lind Yo who returned to the foods of her culture, stressing low caloric density).

I also plan on buying the Okinawa Diet, which is also about low caloric density.

I just thought I'd mention these books in case anyone's a "reader" like I am!

Thanks for restarting the thread!

Hi Joycelyn and ArtCat. Glad to be on the same thread. Joycelyn, thanks for the new books. I'll check them out.

It sounds like we've all had it tough and our diets took a backseat. I was quite excited yesterday afternoon with all my success when I realized it'd only been (almost) three days in a row that I stayed on track. Well, I'll count my successes where I can. I could count this past Sunday as a basic success except I had unnecessary "crab rangoon" with my general tso tofu lunch (probably 500-800 calories) but I didn't eat any dinner. So, I basically came out about even.

I'm really buckelling down now and staying on plan. I had a whole "tool shed" of strategies in 2009 that I used to stay on track for eight months. So, I'm firming myself to keeping at it--no matter what!

I have discovered seasoned tuna fish (by Bumble Bee). This week I've eaten a half a container (110) on an organic flax seed tortilla (90 cal) microwaved with low-cal cheddar cheese (100 cals) with a 1/4 cup side of raw veggies. It's warm and satisfying for me at the office.

I'm eating four times a day (breakfast, mid-morning lunch, mid-afternoon lunch, then dinner) with an aim of 300 to 350 cals per meal--though some meals are quite near 400.

I'm trying to use jicama, bean sprouts, mushrooms, water chestnuts, and pickles a lot. Each week, I'm trying to add a little bit more low-energy dense items. I'm also brushing my teeth the minute after I eat my last meal of the day to avoid nibbling.

What are you doing to increase the good and decrease the bad?

I'm still working on re-reading the Volumetrics book- things have been so busy lately that it's been hard to find the time. I've been trying to cook the right way, but haven't bothered to weigh myself at all. My daughter's bridal shower was last Saturday, so now that that's done maybe I can concentrate on being healthy. Plus, I finally had an MRI yesterday to see what's wrong with my back/leg, so hopefully that'll help me know what I can do exercise-wise.

Hope everyone is doing better than I am!
Thanks for the book suggestions- I'm always looking for material to inspire me.

iaradajnos- that 4 hour diet I was talking about is by Timothy Ferriss, and he concentrates on eating mostly lean protein, veggies and beans. I really tried to stick to it, but didn't end up losing any weight. At least I didn't gain!

I'm very inspired by reading about what I'm trying to dedicate myself to. Lately, I don't have time to read though. I've been compensating by checking in to 3fc each day. It helps in general but I'm weakest at night.

I'm in my second week of staying on track (one pound minimum per week with a potential of 1/4 pound each day). I'm trying to really eat the portion that I'm sure of its calorie as opposed to guessing the general amount.

I'm also bringing back my old stand-by volumetric whole foods:
jicama (slivered and added to lots of things)
mushrooms
lettuce
water chestnuts
bean sprouts
cherry tomatoes (a whole cup is only 23 cals)
cauliflower

I tried dry popcorn with low cal shredded cheddar cheese melted on top. Next, I'm going to try popcorn with truvia and cinnamon powder.

I JUST LEARNED: The KIND of cinnamon matters. Usually you can only find Cinnamomum Zeylanicum but the healthful one is actually Ceylon Cinnamon found on line or specialty stores. Ceylon Cinnamon (1/4 to 1 tsp a day) is purported to help metabolism, reduce arthritis pain, and slow cancer cell growth. Brief info at: http://neoweight.com/cinnamon-speed-...oss-supplement

Anyway, I hope all goes well and we stay on track for the next week!

Wanted to check in with any fans of low-density and volumetrics. I'm still on board. I'm over on the 100% for 100 days thread that recently started (goes until July 29th). I'm also trying to do the 100 push-ups challenge (but my rotator cuff may be injured so I'm worried I might have to rest--doctor's on Friday to find out).

I've slacked a bit on my volumetrics cooking but pretty much stay in 300-400 calories meals, four times a day. I think I'll re-read Barbara Rolls' book and the great suggestions mentioned above.

Summertime and Volumetrics challenge anyone? Try to have seven volumetrics (low-density) meals for one week then increase upwards throughout the Spring and Summer?