Jerie--My cable went out last night which also includes my internet access because of storming. When I got up this morning it was still out. Hopefully it will be a different story when I get home this evening.

Good morning, everyone...Carol, thanks for your reply on my other thread.

Much as I believe that IE is the best way to go, I feel that right now my body is physically messed up too much to be able to lose anything with this technique.

The truth is, there is no healthy food I ever want. I'm so messed up and so exhausted all the time that sitting here eating junky carbs for "quick energy" is all I seem to do. I NEVER crave a vegetable or fruit. I only want chips and Cheetos and Pop Tarts and Little Debbies and ice cream with sprinkles...You get the picture.

So I'm going back to counting calories for awhile. I hate doing it, but I feel desperate. I'm not going to deny myself any certain foods, but I am going to try to force myself to eat healthier.

I'm going to track my foods in Spark People for awhile. I don't know if it will work, or if it will fail too, like all the other things I've done.

But I'm desperate, and don't dare to "trust myself" to desire healthy foods, because I just don't.

I may still pop in here every once in awhile though, to see how everyone else is doing.

Have a great day!

Hi Becky. You might like Volumetrics. They have a pretty active thread here in general diet plans. Then you wouldn't have to count every calorie and would learn to eat more healthfully. I find that when I'm really intuned with myself that I don't like more than a handful of chips and other foods people call junk.

Well, that didn't last long! I carefully tracked every mouthful of food I ate yesterday-and I hated it! If there's a sure way to become obsessed with food, tracking it is the way it'll happen.

I've done this for SO many years, and it hasn't helped, so why don't I stop trying to do it?

Carol, I really enjoyed the success story you posted. Are there any more of those, or is there a website where we can go read them?

I think what I need to do is work harder at figuring out why I eat in response to various things--like right now. I'm missing my daughter and my grandchildren A LOT, and I was just on the phone/webcam with them, and it stirred up all over again how much I miss them and how sad I am that they live so far away now, and, boy, I wish I had a bag of chips. Isn't that a silly response to missing your family?

So I guess, though I am desperate to lose some of this weight, I really don't care to drive myself nuts trying to record every bite I take. Life is too short. There are better things to do with my time, right?

Enjoy your Tuesday, everyone!

I just realized that today I am 5lbs down from the new highest ever that I hit last week.

It's probably all just bloat, so nothing to get excited about, but still good anyway, right?

Becky--No matter how long it takes me I'm not counting anything ever again. I get way too obsessive too!

I had a wierd IE day today. It is so hot that by supper time all I wanted to eat was watermelon. My DD and DH had spaghetti and garlic bread and now I'm really glad I didn't eat it because the nausea I was feeling has gone away.

I'm up earlier this morning to beat the sun while picking beans. The next picking should be big. The bugs were loving me. ha! Not hungry yet but I suppose it will come on soon. How is everyone?

I'm with you. I'm all over the place because I HATE counting carbs and calories! I seem to get obsessed with numbers and end up eating foods I don't even like because they fit into the numbers. Then I get rebellious and binge on garbage food because I hate counting whatever it is I'm counting!

Funny thing is, last summer I lost about 20 pounds by only eating when I'm hungry and stopping before I'm full. I don't know why I didn't stick to it. I was doing really well and my rheumatoid arthritis felt so much better.

I started eating that way again this morning. I'll eat what I'm truly hungry for, which is usually healthy when I actually listen to my body, and stop before I feel full. I know this is the best for me health AND weight-wise. Why oh why and where oh where did we stop listening to our bodies and start following some book on how to eat?!? We were given natural instincts and yet we bull ride right thru them.... *sigh*.....

Ann

Hi, how is everyone? Boy, do I ever hear you guys about how crazy you go when counting calories. They say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. That is surely me. I make a vow to myself every day, that no matter what happens with my weight, I will never diet again. It just causes me too much anguish.

My dr. started me on a new injection for diabetes (byetta) and she says most people report a decrease in appetite. I've been on it a couple of weeks, and I forget to eat. Never in my life did I think I would ever say that. My kids used to do it, but never me. Plus, it's really helping my blood sugars. According to the literature, it works by delaying the emptying of the stomach and that keeps your blood sugar more level. Only drawback is nausea, but that's beginning to go away. I couldn't be happier. It sure fits in with my IE lifestyle, because I've had a tendency to eat by the clock instead of hunger.

Carol - how big a garden do you have? And do you take care of it all by yourself? It must be big, hearing how much stuff you can, freeze, and give away. I usually have a small garden (fall and spring are the garden times of year here - even winter for some things). I call it my "salad garden". Usually have lettuces, onions (which I use green), tomatoes, carrots, radishes (for the grandkids - they grow so fast) and sugar snaps. My neighbor and I "built" my garden with cement blocks & he filled it up with dirt. It stands about 4 1/2 feet off the ground, because my physical limitations prevent me from getting on my knees. I just love it, it's so easy to take care of. It's only about 5' X 5' tho.

Everyone have a great day (and a happy one too).

Ann! Jerie, I'm trying to reduce my garden but still not doing the best at it. My husband brings home cheap plants and it gets bigger. I'm just going to have to put my foot down. I used to do 36 tomato plants but now I only have 16.

This morning I was very hungry and wanted to make creamed tuna but knew that it would take awhile. So I had a piece of toast with peanut butter and a little jam and then the tuna was ready. It all tasted so good and I have been having a problem with not finding anything that satisfies. My problem is that I eat the same thing for days in a row. I was eating toast with pb and fresh strawberries but the strawberries were getting old and the patch is done now so I had to think of something different. I remembered how mom used to make me creamed tuna on bread when I was young so I tried that and it was great! And the pb toast appetizer really hit the spot, too. Plus a great peach topped everything off. Does this sound silly?

Carol - Your meal doesn't sound silly to me. It sounds like you ate what you were hungry for. I too get in ruts of eating the same thing every day - just because it's easy. I'm trying to get in the habit of freezing stuff instead of eating it every day until it's gone. I try to cut my recipes down to about 2 servings, but some things just seem to grow as I'm cooking them. Soup, chili, & stuff like that grows and multiplies on me as it's cooking. I just keep finding stuff that I think would make it better if I put it in. I think it's great you ate something you used to eat as a kid and still enjoyed it. My mom used to make creamed chipped beef, and we ate it on toast. She got to wanting it one day, so I made some for her and both of us hated it. It was sooo salty. Neither of us could believe we loved it so. My brother says he still likes it and fixes it every once in awhile.

Tell your husband that he has to take care of every new plant he buys. Maybe that would slow him down.

Hope everyone has a good day today, and does one thing just for fun.

That's exactly what happens to me. I try one thing, then worry that it's not the "right" way to lose, then I jump to something else. In the meantime, I'm usually gaining because I can't decide what to do, and can't stick to what I end up deciding.

I agree about that definition of insanity, and that's why I'm questioning myself about why on earth I keep running back to "eating plans" that prescribe what to eat, or what to avoid, or how much, etc. I've done this for 30 years now, without ever getting back to a normal weight for very long, if ever, so I really need to figure out something else.

I'm trying to talk my husband into doing raised beds too. It would be a lot easier on our backs/knees, and it would reduce the weeds quite a bit. He planted our garden the regular way this year, but he told me he'd like to do raised beds next year.

Carol, with the way things are going, I think you're going to be very glad that you have a huge garden! I couldn't believe the price of simple green peppers here this week--$2.79 a pound! Amazing. I have two tiny peppers on my plants right now. I told my dh those things are gold.

I don't know if I'm onto something here or not...The last couple of days I've tried to eat very low carb. I did have a single scoop of regular ice cream for dessert last night though, but the scale still went down a little.

Today I'm 6.8 pounds down from my highest. I usually have only one week during the month where I can lose, then I either stay the same or gain the other three. (A lot of the gain is because once I see that I *am* gaining, I throw in the towel and start eating any ol' thing. I also have bad carb cravings then, even though I'm past menopause, which is weird.)

So in general I'm trying to eat quite a bit lower carb, but not low enough for it to be Atkins or Protein Power, etc. I'm going to allow myself a dessert every day if I want it, but try not to go off the deep end with constant junk eating.

Maybe if I can keep that up and not throw in the towel for awhile, I'll inch bit by bit down the scale.

Does this sound like it could work?