I've been doing just awfully the last week. Gross.

What can I do to get back in gear? I've been going to Curves every day and I love it, so exersize is not the problem this time around.

But eating... my gosh. I've just been starving. I tried South Beach, but I got frustrated after about 2 weeks b/c I was stressed out about entering Phase 2, and I was even MORE stressed out living in Phase 1 b/c there was nothing to eat except vegetables, eggs, cheese, and meat. I just about wanted to die!

And calorie counting makes me absolutely obsessive compulsive, and it really takes over my life, like FitDay and etc. So I don't think I should do that.

I just don't know what to do. I'm so stressed out and I just really want to lose weight, I really really do. But wanting it isn't good enough.

How do I get on a good eating plan and stick with it, especially being so busy (there are often times where I have 5-15 minutes to get a meal on the way out the door) and not being particlarly fond of any fad diets or calorie counting. I realize I just eliminated every healthy eating plan known to man.

Any ideas for babysteps or any advice at all. I'm really at a loss.

My dear Apryl... Remember me? Yep that's right we both started on South Beach at the same time. And I was in the exact same place that you are now. Extreme frustration (and perceived starvation) with veggies, eggs, cheese and meat. I too was absolutely freaking out about moving to Phase 2. So I have decided that that was not the plan that I needed to be on. Calorie counting can be obsessive. I used that method when I first began only to discover that to the best of my efforts, it was a rare day that I came even close to 1200 cals and was usually at around 800! That became a source for obsession unto itself as it became a daily ordeal for me (and my fiance) to make sure I came close to 1200 daily.

So where am I at now? I am eating generally. Basically, I eat low carbs, low fat (I have high cholesterol so this is a must), and try to get in the good stuff (whole grains, fruits, veggies). I'm at a stressful, busy point in my life as well (a breath away from graduation) but I did not want to abandon my weight loss effort all together. I have chosen to eat smart. I chart my foods on most days (but not all). I never go over 1400 (although I still have undereating issues).

Take babysteps. Do what you know is smart eating. Try not to get OC about it though. My mother had similar issues with dieting. What she did was to adapt her eating habits to the healthy things and ways that she already knew she should be eating. Once she had the right foods down pat, then she cut calories some, began exercising and began showing a very impressive loss. We don't all have the luxury of time but I think that getting eating habits to a healthy place is key. Just my two cents.

Oh yeah... YOU ROCK. Way to go on sticking with Curves. I'm glad to hear that you like it so much. I'm still undecided as to joining but KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK! You're an inspiration!

Apryl, first of all, congratulations for sticking with Curves -- it's good to be good to yourself.

There is a Weight Watcher's "core" plan that lets you eat as much of certain foods as you like -- I don't know much more about it, but perhaps the WW forums here might have more info. The WW "points" plan is another option that lets you eat a variety of foods -- perhaps that might work for you?

Good luck and don't lose hope!

Hi Apryl --

I'm a big fan of the exchange approach, originally developed by the American Diabetes Assn. It counts calories for you, so to speak, without you having to get all nit-picky about the numbers. Once you learn what constitutes an exchange, you can build your day using these building blocks, and you can eat anything you like within parameters. It's also balanced so you get a good range of food and nutrients. I'm on Jenny Craig, and even though we use prepared food to start, it's still based on the exchange system. Exchanges is what WW was based on originally, too.

I have a link to a good web site that explains it and gives the exchanges needed for various calorie levels, but it's on my computer at work. I'll try to remember to post it tomorrow.

P.S. Congrats on keeping up the exercise, that's definitely commendable!

Congrats on sticking with the exercise--that's wonderful! My thoughts are that you need to go shopping, find snack things that are good for you and aren't "trigger" foods, and make sure you have healthy stuff in the house that you'll eat. When you are home, make up meals in advance and freeze them so you can microwave them in a few minutes. Practice using portion control on the things that you like to eat (e.g., when you go for pizza with friends, eat one piece very slowly, talk a lot, and sip a diet soda). Wake up every morning and affirm to yourself that you're going to have a great eating day. Surround yourself with friends who will support you and not sabotage you.

When I was in high school while the dinosaurs were roaming the earth, I was on the original Weight Watchers program. It was hard watching my friends chow down on everything they wanted, but I wanted to lose weight by the time I got to college, and I kept that thought in my head as I ate my tuna with mustard sauce (don't ask!) in the school cafeteria. Luckily, you don't have to eat tuna with mustard sauce, but you do need to keep telling yourself why this is important and how much you want it. You will succeed in anything you put your mind to, Apryl.

Well I am a big calorie counter here. It does seem overwhelming at first and it does consume a bit of time but once you get in the zone and get used to what your eating and counting it really is not that big of a deal. I spend maybe 1/2 tops each day counting calories and filling in my food journal. The benefits from that 1/2 is tremendous. Even when I first started I don't think I spent more than an hour doing this. However when your first start you do tend to obsess about food and calories but that blows over. It works is all I can tell you.

Hope you can find something that fits your needs. I know you can do it if you apply yourself.

Hi Apryl,
Sorry to hear your having a rough time of it right now. I can totally relate to what you mean about counting calories and fitday consuming your life. That's how I started out and it nearly drove me crazy. So I rebelled and gave up counting and logging any info and started to feel better about it. But after a couple of weeks of not having any real accountability I started losing focus and was having a really hard time.

I decided that I really did need to count stuff but my approach would have to be different. I'm back using Fitday again now but I'll only let myself go there at the end of the day and to log the eats and exercise. I feel much better about that now.

I hope you find something soon that will work for you. It's out there you just need to do a little more searching. Good for you for sticking with Curves - it keeps the focus on health in the front of your mind. Maybe you could incorporate your calorie/food counting/accountability as part of your workouts and only log things after you've finished your exercise for the day. Just an idea....

Good luck!

~Dee

Apryl, I am sorry to hear about the struggle you are having. I remember what it was like going to university full time and trying to eat healthy, but it was tough when there was quick, unhealthy meals are available. What with the studying and classes (and of course the social life ) you feel like you do not have the time to focus on yourself. There are lots of good suggestions here. Unfortunaltey I find that by not counting calories (or keeping a journal) I lost all line of sight of what I was eating during the day. I guess the best suggestion I can make is plan ahead (already suggested in the other posts) to make sure there are healthy alternatives for you. You are doing so great already with keeping up with Curves. I know you can do this

I know how frustrating it can be! I did SBD as well and I still follow the SBD rules, without really worrying about what phase I am doing. Like, no refined sugar, nothing "white", low fat meats and dairy. Not that I'm having huge successes (yet!) : ) But, you might give it a try?

Lauren

to you for sticking with your exercise. Another food thought may be to work on your portions/serving sizes. I know you said you don't want to be obessessed with counting calories but if you instead focus on getting your veggies/fruit, protein, dairy in each day and limiting the excess it might help you out. Most times I can now eyeball a serving of meat without having to weigh it. I know my serving spoons are about 1/3 c. even and 1/2 c. if it's rounded at the top. Stuff like that. It did take some effort in the beginning, but like howie said it does get easier the more you do it.

You might also take one day when you don't have a ton of stuff going on and sit down and actually plan out your meals for the week.

I understand about becoming so obsessed!!
For me, planning what to eat and logging it all (at first, I'm getting better) made me thinnk about food ALL THE TIME!!

Maybe try something like an e-diets plan (just the basic one) where they plan everything out for you, and then you just eat what they tell you? When I looked at it on trial (a couple of years ago) it was really flexible to substitute one meal for another and it gave a shopping list and it would let you specify 'low-salt' or 'i hate fish' or something.
I think that changeone also gives a plan, and that's nice to help you ease into the whole thing, too.

Good luck, and keep up with the curves!!

A little higher tech way to journal would be to take pictures of everything you eat. With so many cell phones & PDAs having cameras it would be pretty easy to do- plus it would make you stop & think before you ate anything. You could sit down once a week or so and review what you've been eating and see if there are areas you can improve & what areas you are doing well in. Its hard to lie to the camera , just look at your drivers license picture

For me, WW points make a lot of sense. I did it a few years ago, and once you learn the basics & portion sizes its pretty easy to do. For me, it helps put a 'value' on various foods. Not all foods are worth the same and eating without any idea of what each is truely 'worth' is like going to the store & not looking at prices even though you know you only have so much money budgeted. Sure its easy to put the extra on a credit card, but you have to repay it at some point- just like we have to 'repay' our bodies now for all the years of going over budget on our eating. Just think of all our fat rolls as 'credit' our body extended us...its time to start paying off those high balances before we end up bankrupt

I will say that in the begining, any plan is going to take some work & adjustment, but after awhile it becomes second nature. I found that after a few weeks I didn't need to weigh & measure everything- just every once in a while I would recheck that what I thought was an ounce of crackers really wasn't 1 1/2 to keep myself on track. I'm restarting again- doing WW on my own...its funny how some parts of it I kept up with- the digital scale never left my kitchen completely, I just didn't use it as much. Other tricks, like someone else mentioned knowing how much your serving spoons hold or having small dishes that hold about 1 ounce of crackers or pretzels make it easy after a while.

Apryl: You've got LOTS of good advice here! I really don't have anything to add, except my support!

Hi there --

Here's the link to the site on exchanges:

http://www.mealsforyou.com/cgi-bin/c...exchanges.html

There's also a GREAT exchange-based menu planner here: http://hin.nhlbi.nih.gov/menuplanner/menu.cgi

Looks like your gotten alot of good advice here.

I only have one thing to add. PLAN. I don't care if you go with WW core or the exchange system (which both sound like really good options for you) but no matter what you have to plan ahead to succed. I know you feel crunched on time, so maybe a night before plan would work for you. On most days before I go to bed I have an idea of what I am having for breakfast, lunch and dinner the next day. I know that seems like alot of work, but to be completely honest, losing weight is a lot of work. After a while it does get easier and you get in a routine, but you always have to be mindful of the choices you are making.

I am so very proud of you for joining and sticking with curves. You are doing yourself such a favor by getting some exercise!!!