Hey Jill,

If you cut out the fast food and brought yourself lunch everyday, you'd see a huge difference! I used to be a fast-food-aholic! I ate it everyday for lunch and I got up to 188 pounds because of it! Now, more than 60 pounds lighter, I bring my lunch everyday. I also notice that when I do eat fast food, I feel very sluggish and my stomach gets upset from all of the fat and grease. Keep up the walking and the water! That will help you too!

Good Luck!
Lisa

Welcome Jill. As devoted said; you will notice a real big difference if you could brown bag everyday.Devoted; I also feel blah from fast foods if I make a habit of eating fast foods everyday.

Thanks for your welcomes. I really need to start cooking at home!! I really don't care for cooking and that leads to alot of fast food. Well for starters, here is a little about me. I'm married, 42 with 3 children. (ages 20, 16 and 6). A dog, cat, hamster and guinea pig. As I said before, cooking is not one of my stronge points. I love to quilt, do cross-stitch, etc.

If I would plan out my supper and have it ready to cook then that would be easy. I guess my real problem is I'm not a planner. I do things as they come up. It could be 6:30 and still not have thought about supper. Bad mom!!

This will take some time and thinking to get me on the right planning track!!!

Any good suggestions

I will not be around this weekend because we are off camping. Will check back on Monday. Have a great weekend everyone.

Bye for now, Jill

Hi Jilles!

If anyone understands what it's like to not have the time or energy to cook, I do. I am a single mom, work full time and go to school full time

Soup and sandwiches are a staple. I make big batches of salad at once, and also when you have time to cook on the grill, make a bunch of extra chicken breasts and freeze them in individual sandwich bags. Poof, grilled chicken salad. Also, if you mix the hidden valley ranch dry mix with a tub of fat free sour cream, you get a salad dressing that is only 25 calories for two tablespoons and tastes way better than the bottled stuff. I make a vegetable soup (no meat) with beef bullion as a base and freeze it in individual portions too.

Along with fast food, try cutting out any drinks with calories in them too. You would be *amazed* at the amount of calories a person can put away from liquids!

I think your approach is a great one because you are actually changing the habits that made you overweight in the first place! I have promised myself that even if I fall off of my diet I am going to keep up with the exercise and not drink anything but water and diet soda. Oh..and my calcium enriched V-8 juice just because it's so packed with things that are good for you

I diet the same way you do. I lurked forever after falling off of low carb, just *knowing* I should get back on it because it makes so much sense to me and I had good results even for the short time I was with it. Bottom line is though, you have to do something you can stick with. Not everyone looses the same way or approaches dieting the same way. For me, the only thing that works is counting calories. That way, NOTHING is completely off limits. When I get to 1400 though, I have to stop. I find myself treating it like a money budget. I don't want to spend most of my day's calories on one fast food meal. If you decide you want to go further with this at some point, dietwatch.com is a great way to keep track, and it's free.

But anyway, BIG congrats to you for making such positive changes in your life! You WILL see a difference!

Deana

Hey Jill,

Deana is right about cutting the high calorie soft drinks. My roommate absolutely LOVES Pepsi and just by cutting down to 2 a day, she lost 10 pounds! I couldn't believe it! Here I am eating right, exercising, drinking only water and SHE loses 10 pounds cutting out her Pepsi! SO unfair

If you give yourself a calorie limit, which I do, then Deana is right when she says that you won't want to use up all your calories on one greasy meal. Think of all the food you can eat for those calories! That's how I do it. Like I said, I used to be a fast food fanatic and it's still hard sometimes. But for the most part, I'm okay. It just takes a little time to get used to it.

Anyway, I'm off for the weekend!
Talk to ya later!
Lisa

Hi everyone!
I have been reading all the replies to my thread, but with the kids I have been SO busy! I am 25, married, and have a 2 1/2 year old daughter, and a 3 1/2 month old son. I was a beautician before the kids came, and I also am a licensed wedding coordinator. I do this part time right now, and when we get a bigger place I will open up a full-time shop. When I got married, I planned a full scale medeival themed wedding and from then on, I was hooked!
Jilles, I ,too, love crafts-and do a lot of sewing and things like that! My friends tease me and say I can sew and chrochet better than any old lady!
Sadie-congrats on losing 30 lbs! Way to go!
Freels-I got your question-but I am unfamiliar with the false fat diet.
Deana-you are totally right about only drinking calorie free things! That is one of the first things I tell people-it is such a painless way to cut calories!
Jill-by starting to walk everyday you are moving toward making such a positive change in your life and for your health! If you need some more personal support, you can e-mail me at [email protected]-I will help you with a plan that works for you that includes your faves-I have recipes and substitutions for about everything fattening I like! I hope to hear from you soon! No, I don't think you are nuts-we all have an absession with food, or we wouldn't be here. Do not feel bad about it-we all feel what you are going through.
Well, I have to go for now, I will post again soon.
Lots of Love,
Amy-Aphil

I too always come back to counting calories. Its the only thing that I can stay on for any length of time. I tried Atkins once for 36 hours, I gained 1 lb and felt yucky. I also tried CAD for 8 hours, had a real problem with eating cauliflower at breakfast (was the only acceptible veggie I had in the house at the time).
I too wish I could stay on a low carb diet for a while just to see some results, but alas I can't do it. I too am one that if denied something that is what I want.

I weigh 238 lbs right now and I am trying to eat about 1800 calories a day; but that can vary from 1600 up to 2200. I have lost on 2000 calories a day with exercise. It has to be liveable for me or I won't do it. I try to eat lower fat and cut down on the sugar. Mostly I try to get as much good tasting food for the amount of calories I alot myself.

Anyhooooo, I haven't posted to this site for over a year. Its good to be back. I hope to post more often. Good luck everybody. I love this counting calorie thread.

Take care,
Carmine
(I am female by the way LOL)

Welcome back Carmine. Good luck anfd post often!!

Welcome home Carmine I really believe getting involved with these boards keeps your motivation up and helps you stick with it. I think your calorie levels are very smart. It's a good idea (or at least by my way of thinking) to eat the highest calories you can loose on. That way, you not only keep from slowing your metabolism, you have some room to move downward as you get closer to your goal. I'm averaging between 1800 and 1900 over a week. I try to stay within 1400 most days, but usually have a day or two during the week that I go around 2000. Some days I *really* blow it I honestly believe exercise is the only real way I'm having such success.

Speaking of which, I just gotta let you all know that I made my first mini goal with two weeks to spare! I started out 4 weeks ago at 189 and wanted to be 179 by the time we go on vacation on August 12. As of this morning, thanks to a 3 lb loss, I'm at my goal! That makes ten lbs in 4 weeks. I'm feeling pretty darned good today Next goal: 169 by Sept 6th..my 30th birthday.

Deana

Hi Everyone,
Just a quick response to DeanaM-Congratulations, girl! ten pounds in 4 weeks is absolutely wonderful! You must feel so good!
I am so glad we have a group here that is going about things the sensible way-I was just reading a thread about a girl wanting suggestions on losing 20 pounds in a month for a wedding!
Well, I am still on plan-trying to cut out most refined and processed foods like donuts and twinkies-even lower fat varieties!
I am still at 190-since losing the first five, I seem to be hitting an early plateau. I am not bumed, however, from the weight training I am doing, I am starting to notice traces of definition showing in my shoulders and back. I am working really hard 3 days a week on my upper body strength training-I am matron of honor in a wedding next year, and I am wearing a sexy dark red slinky dressthat is sleeveless!
Hopefully I will be at my goal by then!
Well, I'll see you all soon-Happy early birthday Deana!!!!
Aphil

Aphil posted:

I am so glad we have a group here that is going about things the sensible way-I was just reading a thread about a girl wanting suggestions on losing 20 pounds in a month for a wedding!

Hi Aphil. That girl was me, Jennifer, and as it turns out, I did not need to resort to drastic measures to lose weight before the wedding. I was in a temporary panic when I created that original post and not too long after that, I calmed down and got my thinking straight again. What worked for me? An industrial-strength girdle to hold in my tummy and the dress fit much, much better (my tummy was my trouble area).

Since then, I have embarked on a sensible eating plan that combines a moderate reduction in calories and regular exercise.

Jennifer

Hey Everyone,

Aphil, you are going to look FABULOUS for that wedding! Keep up the great work! I think your "plateau" is really the result of adding muscles! Before long the fat will be melting away.

Jennifer, I read your "desperate" post, too, and was pretty concerned about you! Glad to hear that you gave up on that idea! It would be disasterous to try and lose all of that weight in such a short amount of time. I hope you have fun at the wedding and I wish you all the luck in the world on your new eating plan.

It's just another Monday for me. I had pizza on Saturday for my cheat meal and it was soooooooo yummy! I'd been craving it for a week.

I have step class at the gym tonight. I just started so the routines are very challenging but I love it! For some reason I don't sweat enough during regular aerobics... not like I do when I do a step class or workout on the treadmill. I don't really understand why that is. Anybody have a theory on that??

Well, talk to you all later!
Lisa

Hi Again,
Jennifer-I am so glad you didn't go to some of the drastic measures that some posted on that site! I, too used the girdle trick for a small waisted look at my own wedding! I had a medeival themed wedding, complete with a tiara and a dress that had to be laced up! I used a corset and it worked wonderfully!
Beleive me, I know what you meant by going into a panic when something doesn't fit right! Welcome, and let us know how you are all doing with your eating plan.
Lisa, thanks for the vote of confidence! I, too think the added muscle is keeping my weight at the same level as it builds.
You were saying that you didn't get as sweaty in a regular aerobics class as you do in step class-there IS actually a reason for this. In the early 80's aerobics really became the rage, but it was found that it was causing some injuries due to the kicking and jumping that was going on-too much jarring of the knees,ankles, ect. Low impact aerobics was introduced, with less jumping and kicking, and more grapevine and cha-cha type movements. Most classes are now low impact, and a step class has a lot of little jumps on the step that raises your heart rate a little more than reg. low impact aerobics. This is the same reason that I can speedwalk the same mph as someone doing a slow jog, but I don't get as out of breath.
Well, Have a good day everyone!
Aphil

My weigh-in is tonight. So far so good.
I love this way of eating and never feel hungry. There is a lot of flexibility.

Hi,
Sadiegirl,
Let me know how you did with your weigh-in today! I'm glad you are enjoying the flexibility of this type of diet.
I also wanted to share a couple of favorite treats in case there are a few you haven't tried. I absolutely love to make a diet float out of 1/2 cup low fat ice cream and a can of diet root beer. Altogether it is only about 120 calories, and it is a great nightime snack. I also love to take a small size can of pineapple in juice and cut up a small bananain it. The juice from the pineapple lends a nice flavor to the banana, and it is a nice breakfast.
I also love grilled cheese, so I use 2 slices of Wonder Light Wheat bread, 1 slice of American Cheese, and instead of buttering the bread before browning, I spray it with butter flavor Pam. Altogether it is 140 calories. My daughter eats them and has never had them the regular way.
Some ideas for some quick meals are to get a bag of stir fry vegetables and saute them in a little Pam or I Can't Beleive It's Not Butter spray with a small amount of frozen shrimp or cooked chicken pieces. You can add a touch of oriental style sauce if you like.
I also like to blend a banana, 1 cup skim or 1%milk, and a packet of Carnation sugar free Instant Breakfast and a couple ice cubes for a breakfast smoothie.
Well, I will post soon-hopefully soon I will break through this plateau!
Aphil
195/190/140