I do try to do that as well. But I am afraid the other cereals I eat may not be so good either. I do wheaties, shredded wheat (no sugar topping), oatmeal, honey nut cheerios, and special k (plain). I know oatmeal is good, but are any of the other cereals good for quick meals?



I shouldn't have got that bread! It was not that great! It was kind of salty tasting or something. I do like wheat... I will stick with that. Luckily, I don't go there often. I will have to check out the website though and save it for next time. I am going to have to make a lot of healthier choices when it comes to subway!



It was fried. And it did not taste that great at all. I had 1½ peices of chicken and gave the rest to my kids. I didn't eat the cole slaw and I only had a ½ of a peice of the pizza and gave it away too. I remember how many points one peice of pizza was when I did WW!! It was not an easy meal to have on WW at all! I will have to check out there website too! I never thought of websites! If I have chicken with bone and skin but baked is that still good? Our local resturante (sp?) has that there for pretty cheap. I like to order my chicken cooked already because I can't never seem to cook it all the way and I am afraid to eat it.

Yes, however most of the time all of the diet coke's I drink are actually only 1 can/bottle a day. I never finish a whole can in a sitting. It takes a day or two to drink it all. Lol. But I do understand what your saying. I have heard that this does not help with hydration either.



My husband and I are already making a shopping lists... with fruits. I think we are going to skip the bananas this week. As for the jello, I was basically just eating it for the 6th. meal of the day. I was not hungry when I ate it. I didn't have it last night. I can see how it can make you crave things though!!! I don't need that!



I ussually only have 2 or 3 peices of bacon. And yes, I use turkey bacon. I don't use the regular bacon anymore. I haven't used regular bacon in months. I was only eating that because I thought it would be a good protien source. I only have this sometimes to... not everyday... I couldn't handle that.



I am hoping for this, this week! I can have yogurt and it is good for me???? I thought it was a bad food. I like yogurt with strawberries.... the one with splenda instead of sugar. Kroger sells it... and it is not priced to bad!



Right, I have figured out that moderation is key for everything!



I love bargains! Krogers is not bad for there name brand items! And they have some pretty awesome sales a lot of the time too! So this should be good.

Can any fruits be froze to keep them longer? Like a watermelon... it would take us forever to eat a whole watermelon! The last time I cut up and froze fruits (bananas and strawberries) they were ruined and went to the trash.

Thank you so much for all of your help! As I read all of the support on here I am feeling much better each day! I am hoping to get at least 1 mile with Leslie WATP in today! I think I can at least do that! It only takes 15 or 20 minutes!

Thank you for all of the food lists!! I sure do appreciate those! I printed it all out! I can't wait to take the list shopping with me. I removed the lists from this reply so it was not so long though.

I did have a digital scale but it never worked right so I tossed it. I do have a regular scale I used when I worked ebay that works ok. I can try that. Or the idea of a deck of cards is good too!

I can handle this! I have been doing this actually... well on the days not mentioned on this board. I normally have 2 veggies at dinner and that is the main thing I eat, and then my salad too. I will have to keep that up.

Do you cook these just like your would a baked potatoe? I have never had these before.

No, no.... this was for all day yesterday!!

Ok on the calorie counter. But according to a guy on another board on here I need to eat around 2495 in calories a day!! This is based on the American Heart Association No Fad Diet. I ordered the book so I understand the whole thing. It will take a bit to get here though.

That just seems like a lot of calories. But on WW (if I calculated this right) I was allowed 1200 calories a day. This is basically what I ate yesterday.. and that is not making for weight loss. I do believe I probably need more calories, but not sure if about 2500 would be correct or not.

Good point! This is how I cook things... please tell me if this is good or not....

Meats (in over or on the top of the stove) I use: canola oil cooking spray or olive oil cooking spray. Salt and pepper to taste. Use garlic sometimes for flavor while cooking.

Veggies: in a steamer after cooked I put some I can't believe its not butter spray on the veggies OR some brummel and brown spread. Salt and pepper to taste.

What's brummel and brown spread?

Well, I did just start fitday last night! So I could have done something wrong. But everything is in there to the best of my knowledge. Except for my splenda because I could not find that anywhere... but if I remember right on WW splenda was free. And it is hard because we ate out yesterday so there could be some wrong in that yes. My OM hotdogs were not fat free... they were the regular ones. They were on sale. My hot dogs are only with ketchup but most of the time nothing on them, one was with and one was without the other day. And I drink about 5 cups (of the 8 oz. mugs on fitdays site) of coffee through out the day. Around a ½ of a cup of milk would be correct. I tried to do everything I could remember on the fitday site yesterday. I have a lot to learn on that site though I think.

I completely understand what your saying here now that I have seen that chart on fitday. The buns I can do without. But bread for sandwiches at home I can't. I eat wheat bread, that is ok right? My muffin was wheat also. Coffee is a carb?? I never new this.

I totally agree here!!! I tell my MIL this all of the time!! It don't matter to her though.

I am hoping to do this today!!

WHOA Tracy!!
the 2495 calories a day would be a MAINTENANCE level for you. Thats estimated on your CURRENT weight and your activity level.


If you want to maintain your current weight 2495 will keep you thereabouts.

If you want to LOSE weight you need to reduce your calorie intake. And as you do lose weight your body will need less calories.

If you choose to count calories, either by yourself or using something like Fitday.com then at the beginning of your weight loss plan you would probably lose slowly and safely on between 1500-1800 calories a day.

But you need to work out your daily calories and check if you are losing on that amount. If you are losing too fast, increase your daily allowance. If you are not losing, you would need to decrease it. And as I said earlier, you will more than likely need to decrease it as you lose the weight - thats the reason WW has you lower you points allowance as you move down the scale.

I am going to do this. A bottle of water will go everywhere with me. I did the SBD. And it said eggs were good. So I eat them. I am (my whole family is) a very picky eater!! I can tolerate eggs better then other things.

While I was growing up I ate corn, fried potatoes, some fruits and veggies, mcdonalds, white castles, canned foods, pork chops etc. Don't get me wrong... my mom tried to make sure I had healthy foods too. But it was just her and I and very limited on income. I never had a weight problem till after I had kids though! As a kid and teenager I was skinny... healthy though! So now I have to try different things to see if I like them.

This is a good idea too! I will stick with 2 servings a day to start with.

I only have his 3HD book. I am only like 59 pages in it so I am not totally sure. But what you described sounds good! That is kind of what I do when I cook a good meal. I will continue that, but better. But I think I should measure stuff to start again just to be sure.



Yes, my doc said to exercise every day. She didn't say what... but I will do this. I think I am going to ignore my back issue! I think all of how I am feeling maybe due to my eating at this point. My chiropractor says different.. but he is making money when I go see him! I am trying to eat my breakfast (oatmeal) right now, then after awhile get a mile in.

My reg. doc was not available the day I was seen so I saw someone else (another good doc) in the office. She was not sure what she should do. She put me on xanex for a week and sent me home!!! I did NOT take the xanex except for a day or two. That was it. I feel it was just masking the problem. My main problem is my weight... that is what is making depression and everything else. I don't want to mask it.. I want to make it better. I have not been back to see the doc yet. But I think I should.. and I am going to try to do so.

Yes... I used to have insomnia and now I can't stop sleeping! And your probably right!!! Once I get back to being active again this should disappear.

Yes it sure can!! I am thinking lower in fat and watching my calories might be the way I need to go! If you look at my weigh in history (in my site link on this board) it appears I did better while doing WW then anything. Not sure though.

That's ok. And your right! I have several issues and alot of great advice!! It is all going to help make a difference.

Hi Tracy

I see you have the WATP vids. If your back is up to it, I would think gentle walking would be a great way to go for you to start back on your exercise.
Or with your chiropractor advice how about swimming? Its gentle and safe.
I hope your back is soon better!

I order the books "body for life, body for lie for women, and eating for life". I just got them a few of days ago. I think I should really look at them! I might learn something!

Now that is neato! I didn't know google was like that! I am going to have to check that out! That is awesome.



OMG!!! I know what your saying! I am italian ok... we eat a plate (full!!) of pasta and sauce and the cheese! When I did WW the first time (3 years ago) I did a serving and about died!!!! I could starve with that lol!! I normally ate 4 to 5 times that amount!! Man... do I sound like a pig???? Lol.

Maybe I should change the activity level. I put in there the one above bed ridden because I am not bed ridden. I was not sure how to make that. But if I start at the bottom I would probably benefit more from it.

This is very true!! I found that with the WW site tools before too!

Your welcome and thank you.. all!!!

The container says:

brummel and brown spread made with yogurt from the makers of i can't believe its not butter. 35% veggie oil 10% yogurt.

Not sure if this is good though. A friend of mine said it was good.

WOAH is right! I don't want to maintain at all. I need to drop at least 77.4 pounds! On fitday.com I did my plan for a year. So that is about 1 pound a week roughly. I know losing to fast is bad news... been there done that!

Do you count calories? Is counting calories as hard as I am thinking it is? I don't want to make my problems worse by doing it wrong.

I can't swim. No pool. I own my home (mobile home) but can't have a pool, I rent my land. I live in the country and it is very limited out here from what I am seeing. But I can do WATP! And I am going to do that RIGHT NOW!!! WIll be back afterwards.

Tracy, no I dont count calories - I find it too time consuming and a hassle for me. But it does work great for a lot of people.

The key to successful weight loss is to find what works for you - if one diet worked for everyone we would all be slim and the person who invented the diet would be rich beyond their wildest dreams.

I liked WW a lot b/c I found it quicker and easier to count points, and I also liked getting extra points for exercise. I did lose a lot of weight on WW a couple of years ago, along with doing weight training and walking. Needless to say I fell off the diet (as I always seem to do!!) and re-gained.

By the way - congrats on quitting smoking. I quit in March 2003 and it was the best thing I've ever done for both my health and my finances!!

Tracy

If you are not eating much except for dinner and a snack then you are not eating enough. When that happens we send a message to our brain that our body is starving (starvation mode) and in turn the body will hold onto everything and not let anything go b/c it thinks it's starving. You really need to eat more (sounds crazy but it's true). Have you tried Weight Watchers...I think that's a start b/c it teaches you portion control and a balanced meal plan...fruits, veggies, starches, milks, protein, fat, etc. Plus, make sure you are drinkng at least 8 glasses of water a day.

This thread grows too fast to keep up. So I'll probably miss some of what I intended to respond to, but...

First the Brummel and Brown. It's a butter spread made with yogurt and vegetable oil. Tracy there are two camps on this and it's all a matter of preference I suppose. I see nothing wrong with the substitute, but some people feel that completely natural is best. So some would opt for the higher calorie real butter, but use it sparingly, if even at all some days.

For myself, I have more than 2 fruit servings a day. But considering I used to have a serving of chips, a serving of ice cream, a serving of candy, etc. etc., you can't go wrong by changing those junk items to real whole and natural fruit, even if you end up doing more than 2 servings. You don't want to overdo anything though...even fruit.

You mentioned leaving the skin on the chicken, put it into Fitday and you'll be surprised at the difference the skin on/off makes. I just did this and it was like a 70 calorie difference in a 3 oz. serving size. And really get into measuring. We sometimes delude ourselves on servings.

As for the Cheerios comment. I wasn't meaning too many breakfasts with Cheerios per se, but too many with "cereal" in general. Cereal's not a problem except in two areas....when it's Fruit Loops or Lucky Charms variety (the kinds I used to always eat LOL), or when it becomes a daily meal. Your body sometimes can get stuck in a rut and it needs other nutrients that cereal can't provide. So break up the cereal routine and opt for egg and meat some days to get in the protein.

And yes, yogurt is good for you...depending on the yogurt. A coworker wanted to lose weight after she saw my progress, so she started doing like I did and took up eating yogurt. However, she opted for the yogurts full of granola and chocolate and crap...and couldn't figure out why she was "gaining" weight. I usually go with a low carb yogurt (Hood) or with Yoplait Light. Dairy is said to be good for helping you to lose weight. But again...too much of a good thing becomes bad. Look up the food pyramid to get an idea of servings for each category. As I've mentioned, right now, you're way in the high range on the bread servings and too low on other foods. And remember the pyramid is for "maintaining", so you'd need to decrease each item on there in order to actually lose.

That fried chicken you had is nearly double the calories of a piece that is broiled with no skin BTW. Just as an example of where your calories come from. But it's not so much the calories. Someone mentioned starvation mode. Possible, but not always the case. From what I'm seeing, even though you may be keeping your calories low, your'e eating too much of the junk food varieties and they don't offer any nutritional value to your body. They're empty calories basically.

Also, you're not exercising. That should be a daily routine, if only taking one day off a week to rest. Even just walking. You're in the country, lots to see on a walk out there. Get yourself a back support belt and try it. I had to wear one when I first started walking. I started with a mile a day and increased it gradually. Also began to run bits of that mile and increased the distance I ran gradually until I could run the full mile, and then some. See even if you decrease your calories, you have to burn 3500 calories in order to lose a pound of fat. If you exercise, you increase the amount of calories you burn, so you can lose that pound faster. AND...you tone your muscles so you even look slimmer. Even if you don't lose right away, toning may still make your clothes feel loser because you're redistributing your weight around your body.

I don't know about freezing fruits, but I actually keep bags of frozen berries. You can buy the Kroger brand in those if the budget allows. And sometimes I even put a bit of light coolwhip on them myself. Just don't use it often. Things like jello, coolwhip, ice cream, etc....those are all desert type foods. I used to eat desert daily. Now I've found that I need to eat normally every day and have a desert occasionally. Even if it's sugar free, it's still a desert and something that should not be a daily staple item.

Yes, you bake a sweet potato just like a regular potato. You could add your Brummel and Brown on that and some sweetner, maybe even some cinamon and see how you like it. I usually mix Stevia with cinamon and use a butter substitute on mine. A typical dinner might be a piece of grilled trout with seasoning rubbed on it, a cup of asparagus and a sweet potato fixed like mentioned. Or a side of brown rice with tomatoes diced in instead of the potato. And if I'm having the potato or rice, no bread. You mentioned having your sandwiches. Try to cut down sandwiches to one a day so you cut down your bread servings throughout the day. One muffin at breakfast and one sandwich in the day is 3 servings of bread...or carbs. Then say you add rice or a potato at dinner, there's another serving. So try and reduce sandwiches/breads a bit.

As for how you cook your meats and veggies...make sure you're totally honest with yourself. How large is that piece of meat for instance? Nothing wrong with using a cooking spray, but try grilling/broiling at times and see if it helps any.

What I see now is your coffee. I put in one 8 oz. cup and I believe that was 70 cals. And that's was "black". You had 5 times 70 cals or 350 cals in just a drink alone. I think you should really work on cutting back on the coffee. That much caffein will just give you an artificial buzz anyway and may also tend to lead you to be sluggish later, to where you don't even feel like getting any exercise.

As for taking a bottle of water with you everywhere...good habit to get into.