Wow, I love fatsecret.com! Thanks for the info Newleaf.

Hermit Girl, I agree with everyone else who's posted: keep a record of everything you eat. That's the only way I've ever been able to keep my weight in check--back when I was thin, that is. Once you do it for a while, it's second nature. I'm back on the weight loss wagon after gaining 50 lbs over the last three years and that's the plan I'm using: weighing portions and counting calories.

Good luck to you!!

I apreciate EVERYONE giving me their advice. I just cant do the calorie counting and food journal. I really just want to RELAX around food is what I think I need to do. I know that must sound crazy, but the more emphasis I put on it, the more crazy and stressed I become towards eating, and I just want to learn to be conscious in the moment, and train myself to a healthier relationship with food. I know we all do our plan differently, and I realize that the journalling works for so many, just not me. I really am still developing my PLAN and making better choices all day long, without attaching shame and guilt to food. So, I think as far as goals I'd like to develop is to be completely conscious of the food I do eat, and that means no more inhaling my meals while emailing, as though I don't even want to be aware of it, as though it makes me feel... ashamed?

I strive to SIT DOWN at the table , look at my food, taste it, eat slowly and apreciatively, not trying to distract myself.

Carrots are allowed at the computer.... ;-) I have more plan and goals to develop, I just wanted to get this off my shoulder, because I was afraid I wasn't going to fit in with you wonderful Forties ladies if I didn't adhere to journaling and counting. Can I stay in the fort?

No journaling and no counting??? Off with your head...

No, of course. Who cares? It doesn't matter... Do what works for you. I have successfully lost weight in the past (30lbs) by just sticking to the mantra: healthy choices, exercise, portion control.

It's all a learning process -- what drives you TOWARDS a healthier lifestyle vs. what drives you AWAY from one. If journaling and / or counting are counterproductive, then of course, ditch them.

THank you NewLeaf, I LOVE your mantra ~!!!

I just finished eating breakfast. I sat down at the table, and really tried to eat. I was horrified to notice I really couldn't taste very well, as if I was congested, yet, to my knowlege I am not congested. I wonder if my taste sensation is compromised from somthing. Aging doesn't do that does it? Anyway, only from being in the moment with my food did I only just realize this. THis is a huge discovery, about how unconsciously I've been eating for who knows how long. Maybe I've trained my neural nets to not need to taste? Started I think , with reading , almost 20 years ago now, Anna Karenina, an epic novel by Tolstoy (and I am a slow reader !) . I remember getting into the habit of making those cheap high chemical chicken ramens and wolfing them down as I read the story. Sound familiar to some? Well, that is a lifestyle habit I can see started about then. Living alone, unhappy, with stresses around me of relationship.... eat and read. Now it's email and eat. I realized I have found reasons to email much of the day. I am a housewife mostlly, and I have that option, and realize that emailing while drinking coffee or eating has huge comfort feelings. Perhpas one of my goals should be to closely monitor my emailing and forum time (or, religiously replace the accustomed food/bevereges with only email-approved... like NewLeaf's Pot Of Tea. ). See, this is how I'm figureing I need to go around making lifestyle goals. Being On Plan isn't just the food I eat, or how much, but HOW I eat it, WHY I eat it, and WHERE I eat it, and WHICH emotions I've learned to associate with it.

Please have patience with me as I am trying to figure this all out at a very root level.

Hermit Girl, You will find what works for you and it may not be the same as someone else. We are all different but we are all in this together! I don't journal, never have and have managed to lose over 50 pounds since September. Being aware of mindless eating is a big step in the right direction. Don't forget exercise, maybe reward yourself with some time online after you walk or hike. Just a thought.

Another non-journaler here(is that a word, LOL?!?). I just don't have the time to be doing that. I have done it some at the beginning of my weight loss just to see what things were as far as calories go but I knew I could not keep it up time-wise. You do what works for you. It has worked for me. Good luck in whatever you come up with!! We are all different and have different ways of doing things. I say go for what you know works for you!

I *definitely* have had to break the habit of mindless nibbling at the computer. But I have agreed to keep my habit of eating lunch and reading the paper at the same time. It sounds like you are down a great path of discovery!

ETA: I hope you get your tastebuds back soon!

HermitGirl,
I lost 30+ lbs with a starting weight about where you are with this as my beginning plan. I personally have never done detail calorie counting day in and day out (I have done periods of it while I learned about what calories were in what) but I have had good success jotting down my food (no measurements, etc. just a statement of what I had). I rarely measure much. Here's the plan I started with:

Give yourself one point per day if:
1. Accountability: record your food somewhere...food journal, on one of the boards, whereever it will hold you accountable to write it down. Like I said, it doesn't have to be super detailed. Just a place where you are going to have to fess up to the slab o' cake or something like that.
2. Exercise: Any exercise...walk around the block, march in place during commercials, anything. You are trying to establish the thought process that you need to get it in at some point. Again, don't worry about how much, etc., just do something.
3. Water: Increase your water consumption. If you aren't drinking any, add a glass before each meal. If you are drinking it already, cool, easy point.
4. Me time: Take 15 min to do something just for you. Read, journal, whatever is a 'treat' for you.
5. Good/Better/Best Choice: Make one good/better/best choice per day. Skip a treat, count out the chips instead of eating from the bag, leave a bite or 2 behind. Only need one per day.

You can set a reward for days in a row with 5 points or I use a weekly total of 30+ points a week for a reward threshold. Find a meaningful non-food reward and give it to yourself when you get the job done. You'll likely get to a point where one or more of these is too easy and then you can start raising the bar for yourself gradually. Make the exercise goal a certain number of minutes...got the water? Change it out to fruit/veggie servings.

Maybe that is a nugget you can use too!

Peg

I don't journal, either, if by "journal" we're talking about writing down thoughts and feelings, etc. But I do track my food on The Daily Plate; it really just takes a couple minutes a day because I tend to eat the same things every week and that site keeps a list of your most-commonly used foods. So that's what keeps me on track. I don't track my exercise on that site; the month I did that (February), I lost a grand total of 1.4 pounds. Yikes.

The first few weeks were the toughest for me. As far as unconscious eating goes, I found myself on one occasion making a conscious decision that I would not have a second Skinny Cow ice cream treat, only to "awaken" a few minutes later as I was walking out of the kitchen, taking a bite out of treat #2! It was as if I was on autopilot; I don't remember ever making the decision to eat that. So I put it in a ziploc (with the missing bite, hahahaha), and saved it for the next day. I think that was a turning point for me as far as learning to be more conscious.

It takes a little time to form new habits, and then it gets easier. At least it does for me.

I never kept a food log or journal - I'm far too lazy to do that! Everyone is different! My DH has intestinal issues, and I got him to journal his food for six months in an effort to figure out what was bothering him. He found it super helpful because it also helped him figure out how much he was overeating. So for him, the journal was a valuable tool.

I'm a lot like you Hermit Girl - I already had a very healthy diet before I started to lose weight (made most breads and baked goods from scratch with whole wheat flour, make my own yogurt, my own musilx, etc...). I just ate too much - I had no idea what a proper portion was. I'm also 40, so I had years of bad eating habits to unlearn.

I knew that the key (for me anyway) was that I had to take on a diet that I could eat *for the rest of my life*. Every time I have lost weight before, it has always come back with a vengence because I could not (or would not) continue to eat the 'diet food'. So I decided to eat the way I like to eat, since it's healthy enough, but just less of it. I'm going on two years now, and so far, so good. My weight has plateaued a few times, but the trend has always been down.

I also found an activity I knew I would stick with. I've always been fairly active, but only a sporadic exerciser. Gym memberships would be used fanatically for three months, then go to waste. It's not that I hate exercising, I just hate going to the gym. So I bought my own light weights and a mat, and later I bought an elliptical, and I started to work out at home. I also confronted my fear of being laughed at for taking a dance class and I signed up for lessons - something I have wanted to do for years and years. Now I'm addicted to my lessons and will never give up dancing. I'm not particularly good at it, but so what. I love it, it's fun, and it's a great way to get fit.

Basically, all my rambling there comes down to: figure out what has and hasn't worked for you in the past and WHY. Then work around the WHY, and you will find something that works for you.

BP