Slimming Singles
 

:) Hi, I'm wondering if singletons/people who live alone want to join in on a thread? Our lifestyle and eating patterns are different than people who live with partners, children or roommates. Any thoughts?:carrot:

Sounds like a great plan, applecake.

Count me in! :carrot:

nicole

Great! So now what do we do?

I have a bad habit of eating in front of the tv when I'm alone, that's one of my pudgy single person issues.

Carla

Sounds like a cute group. I agree that things are probably different when you live on your own. I've been at my parents' house since a couple days before Christmas, and I've definitely eaten differently, though I've been able to manage things through calorie counting to avoid gaining holiday weight.

At home...I personally keep no junk food in my house -- one of those things you can do easily when you live on your own! I also have been cooking dinners only in the quantity that I need for the day -- no leftovers to pick at and overeatsince no one is home to catch me! However, being in a house with leftovers the last 1 1/2 weeks has made me wonder if I might actually be able to handle having leftovers around. On the other hand, I do like my food freshly cooked, too!

I think the best thing about trying to eat healthy while living on your own is that you are in complete control of your environment. The hardest thing might be that there is no one around to catch you overstuffing yourself if you choose to have temptations around! Sometimes other people being around seems to be a deterrent to overeating!

I'd like to join in. I have a teenage son, but he's hardly ever around and I am trying to get over the whole feed-my-baby scene -- he's over it, that's for sure! I need to concentrate on the evenings when I'm here by myself, portion control and mind control.

Great! So what do we do now?

I think this sounds like a great group. I would like to join. Being alone has its challenges. Dating and being over weight has its challenges, too. I have been waiting for someone to start a singles group.I think there are lots of things to talk about. What do you all do when you are lonely and food is your only friend at home?

If you all don't mind, I would like to join in :)

I'm 22, single (obviously lol), and live alone.

I, as well, can see a difference in my eating habits when I'm at my parents just visiting and being at my place.

I'm one who eats in front of the tv as well as the computer (neither a good idea).

Anyhow, if you all don't mind :)

sounds like my type of group.... :dizzy:

I'm 41 and single... I sometimes have a roommate- my mom.... she works out of town a lot- she's been gone since july and will be home in a couple of weeks- no telling how long... I know... 41 and live with mom... but that's what's working for me... I help her by taking care of the house etc when she's gone....

I too tend to want to eat when alone...it's just so easy when no one is around to see what I'm doing....

dating?? what's that? ;) how I would love to have a date...

as you have said... life is so different when single- foodwise and other wise....

Looking forward to see where this group goes!

Reba

I've been a lurker for quite some time, and am just now finding the motivation to begin a healthier lifestyle. I'm not usually that good about posting, but realize that I need a place for accountability. I am 35 and single. I am working 2 jobs, and have been struggling to find the time and energy to cook healthy meals (as opposed to fast food and convenience foods!) Count me in for some accountability!

I'm liking this group too! I'm 24, single, and obviously living on my own. My problem isn't so much snacking while I'm at home (I do my share of that, trust me) but my biggest problem is fast food. I'm a High School teacher, and by the time I get home from school in the afternoon (and that ranges from 3:00-5:00) I'm too exhausted to want to cook dinner, so I tend to just run out to Burger King or Wendy's and grab something quick. Recently I've realized how much money I've been spending on fast food, so I'm trying to use it as a treat for myself now. I know that is kind of random, but every time I lose 5 lbs, I will treat myself to some type of fast food. We'll see how this goes. Also, I have never been much of a left over fan, but I'm trying to cook enough now so I have leftovers, so those nights shen I'm too tired to cook, I just have to warm something up. Now we just need to set up some type of 'challenege' or something for all of us!

~Aubrey

Aubrey, I can completely sympathise with getting home too exhausted to cook. I'm often exactly the same after a crappy day at work, and it's really easy just to pick somethig up on the way home...

BTW - I'm Nicole and I'm 33. I'm single and have been for about a year now after a long term relationship turned rather nasty.

For me a lot of the battle is that there's now nobody to basically make me get dinner on the table. If it's been a rough day at work then it's really hard to find the motivation to cook since it's just me. I'm trying to combat that by making extras of some meals and throwing them into containers and into the deep freeze when I'm cleaning up after dinner.

The other major thing tha tI struggle with is snacking in the evenings. I'm sure you know how it is - you're home from work, had dinner and cleaned up and can sit down knowing that everything's done for the day. I have got a habit of rewarding myself for getting to the end of the day by treating myself and I'm trying to break that habit. Obviously having good food choices available at that time is one way to go, but I'd like to try and break the habit completely - I've just finished dinner, so I don't need to eat. A friend has suggested finding something to keep my hands busy, so at the weekend I'm going to dig out all my old craft stuff that I haven't looked at for a while and see what's there. It's worth a try, anyway...

Sounds like a great group!

I’m a single 29 year old, living with my spoiled cat.

I’m eager to see what topics we come up with

RebaR: I hear you… what is this Dating you speak of?

TeresaKM: When I’m lonely I think about how much I’ve lost, think about what I’m going to eat the next day, grab a glass of water try desperately to avoid the snacky foods, hug my cat, then surf the 3fatchicks forums.

You all sound like great women! I'm glad this thread is catching on and that I'm not the only single gal on the planet, which it often seems like. ha ha. I just ate too much popcorn with seasoning and now my mouth is sore from the seasoning. Ouch! So it's herbal tea for the rest of the night for me.

Like Aubrey, I'm so tired by the end of the day, I often grab a falafel on the way home instead of waiting to get home and prepare something lighter. Well maybe falafel isn't a terrible choice worth beating myself up over, but I could do better with a little extra effort.

How can we support each other?

Thanks for starting this thread! I feel out of place (or overpriviledged) sometimes among all the women who identify first as moms. I've been a bachelorette for almost four years now, basically content with it, enjoying the single life and not feeling the need to be with someone. Unless, of course, Prince Charming magically appears on my doorstep...Evening snacking is my biggest challenge, and not using food for comfort when I'm stressed or angry. Also, I travel a lot, and sometimes I abandon my eating and exercise agenda without much of a fight.

One way to support each other is to focus on what we most want to do better or differently this week or this month, and share our wins and challenges with each other. I expect to have an especially stressful week at work, but I will still need to stick with my program, get to bed early and get up to work out, and not double (or triple :devil: ) up on after-dinner snacks.

judy

So, any advice on how to convince myself to NOT watch tv while I eat? When I have company I don't eat in front of the tv, we talk. But by myself, it's another story. Tonight I'm going to put on a CD while I eat. Maybe I'll be more thoughtful about chewing without the distraction of the tv.

Hi, again--

Here's my list of what I'm supposed to be doing when I feel the urge to munch:

• move away form the tube and doing something in another room
• brush my teeth
• call someone on the phone (it's rude to talk and chew)
• have some mint or spicy decaf tea
• take a bubble bath (who eats in there?)
• look at my food log and my reasons for staying on program
• look at the 3FC "success" thread"

I have a llittle paperback book called "How Not to Eat After Dinner." I found that having it on the table between me and the TV is helpful, but I put it away when I had company a while back--I need to pull it out again! Just seeing the cover reminds me that I don't have to just give in to a momentary craving. Also, I bought a "How to Knit" DVD last month, which I hope will help when I'm just feeling fidgetty.

More suggestions from you lurkers out there would be appreciated!

judy

Hi all - I think this is a great group and I'd like to join. I'm 46 and single and live alone with my two wonderful cats.

I struggle with cooking once I get home from work too. To keep myself from sitting down in front of the TV and snacking on cheese (my big downfall) I find myself not turning the TV on until around 8 and before then I do all my domestic projects around the house. The problem though is that by 8 I'm way too tired to cook or eat anything.

A friend suggested going to one of those places where you prepare a bunch of meals and then freeze them at home, then just take them out of the freezer and cook them up when you're ready. There are a bunch of these places around with a bunch of different names, and I don't konw if I can on this site actually list the one that's near me, but I'm wondering if anyone here has ever done this and how it works. I'm also on WW and wondering if it's easy to figure out the points for these meals.

Tammy

Oh, the other thing I do to when I don't want to munch is hand quilting.

Welcome, Tammy! I have a problem that's related to yours, in that I generally don't get home from work until 7:30 or later, and I want to get better at not eating at all after 8 or 8:30. I like to cook, sometimes on Sundays I'll prepare something big--a pork loin, a roasted chicken, a big batch of soup, etc.--and freeze most of it in smaller portions. So last night I took out some of the yummy chicken-veggie stew I made weekend before last, and all I have to do is nuke it up when I get home tonight. I bought a crockpot this fall, and it's been fun trying new recipes. And when I get home from work, my apartment smells wonderful...

I have been on program this week, with food and working out. But I saw the nutritionist yesterday, who pointed out that a couple of the substitutions I've made for evening snacks, like rice cakes and low-fat popcorn, are highly glycemic and add to my craving for even more food. Oops! My goals this week are to be more thoughtful about my choices, remember to meditate or do yoga every day, and log my food for at least five days in a row (starting today).

How about the rest of you? What would make this a successful week for you?

jduy

Thanks for the welcome, and the info. I had no idea that popcorn could make you crave more food...I don't think I'll be buying any more popcorn.

I bought a crockpot recently too and it is wonderful to come home and smell dinner and know that it's just waiting for me. My only difficulty is remembering to buy all the ingredients to make the dish and then actually do it. That's what I'm working on right now; making better food choices and actually buying the good food at the grocery store so I will have it to eat when I'm home. I find myself thinking about good food choices all the time, but then not actually doing anything about it, and then wonder why I don't have anything good to eat in the house. :dizzy: The other minor struggle right now is that it is snowing up here and a lot of times that also means power outages, which brings with it a whole new set of eating situations. But, for now, it's only snowing and we have power so I'm not going to stress about it.

Hey hey! Thanks for the suggestions! Actually I meant that I eat my supper while watching tv, it's a baaaaad habit. I'm slowly breaking it.

I often knit while I watch tv, and that keeps me from snacking because I don't want to get the yarn dirty. Like Tamarelle with quilting, and Judydc is learning to knit!

The long weekend is almost here, yaay! This has been a difficult week at work, my brain has been buzzing like a beehive.

Applecake, I have a large combined living room/dining room. It's important for me only to eat when I'm sitting at the table in the dining "room." Usually if I'm eating in my comfy chair, I'm snacking, so I've told myself not to do more than drink water or tea when I sit there. I wish my kitchen had a door, so I could also give myself a visual cue that "the kitchen is closed."

Tammy, don't abandon popcorn on my account! Grains can set me off on a munching binge (I could eat cereal for hours) and apparently so can rice and corn. A couple of extra rice cakes aren't many calories but can be a lot of carbs, which make me want even more carbs...so that's just me, that might not be your issue! I am sensitive to gluten (no wheat for me :( ) but the doctor told me I can have oatmeal now, yippee! Even so, I have to eat it when I'm on my way out the door, so I don't start rummaging around like a possum for more carbs.

I did 40 minutes of cardio this morning, and will go to Curves this evening. I'm eating on program today. The chilly weather's making me feel a little sluggish. I wish I'd brought a bowl of stew or chili for lunch today instead of a salad with tuna!

judy

I am new here and it sounds great to me too!

Thanks-
AB

Maybe there's something wrong with me (hee, hee), but I actually like to watch TV during dinner! I actually sometimes plan the time that I cook so that I'll be done when the news or another show I want to watch starts!!!

I don't eat at all after dinner, and I usually eat it between 5:30 and 6:30. I go to bed around 11:30 or so. I've learned that it was a habit. If I eat a dinner with protein and a good enough quantity, I have no need to eat again. It's probably been 7 or 8 months since I've eaten something after dinner, and I find that I feel better when I lie down to go to sleep. Also, after all this time, my body just expects it and doesn't feel hungry. I do think it might have required conscious effort in the beginning, though.

http://www.charismapros.com/images/sweep.gif

http://www.statcan.ca/english/kits/w...ges/Image2.gif

Housework... that's on my agenda this morning... I have my bedroom and bathroom to complete... I did the rest last night... such the life... friday night and at home doing housework....

then I wasn't sleepy and ended staying up until almost 2am!! Why in the world am I up now????


After housework today, no particular plans... other than prepare dinner for my sister's birthday- but it won't be hard- steaks, potatoes, salad, rolls.... when I asked mom what I should fix for dessert she said not to worry about it because we don't tend to eat dessert with dinner (I love dessert but like to wait for a bit) I may try to make a sf choc dessert or something- my sister loves choc too....

well, I'm off and running....

how bout you? What's in your plans for today?

I have a 3 day weekend too.... no particular plans....


Reba

l like the idea of this thread. I am thirty and have lived alone for about two years. I share many of the stuggles that were posted above.

I spend a lot of time thinking about food and what i should not eat and that just leads me to want to eat those things more. So i am trying to focus more on the good things I should do. For example i am trying to eat five fruits and veggies a day. This gives me something positive to think about and fit in and when I get all five I have less space to eat other foods that are higher in fat and not so good for my body. Also I find that when I eat breakfast i eat better all day. So now i try to plan out what I need for breakfast all week before I do my shopping. My current ideas for breakfast are low fat yogurt, steal cut irish oatmeal with friut (I hate rolled oats, they are always slimmy when i cook them), half a muffin and a piece of fruit, dry granola and a banana (I do not really drink milk and find dry ceral is better to eat on the run). What sort of things do you all eat for breakfast? Do you eat breakfast?

I am stuggling with eating out to much. I moved about two years ago to from a very small town to a major city. There are so many palces to eat and so much good food. in the country if i wanted something tasty I had to cook it here I can find every thing easily and better than I can make! But like someone already mentioned the cost of eating out adds up on the scale and in my check book. So i am trying to go 21 days without eating out! so far i have made five days. I tend to eat out when I am streesed and days are long at work. i can just pick up somethng on the way home. The fat, sodium and calorie count is often higher than if i made the same thing at home.

My post is getting rather long but I do have one question for the group. Do most of you have support for your wieght loss journey from friends, weight watchers , TOPS or other organized support groups or are you going at it on your own? My main support is here at 3fatchicks. I really enjoy the support on this site from people that are working through some similar issues. I better end here I have to get out of the house between down pours to shop.

I just saw this thread and would like to join the group. There are definitely challenges to living alone and trying to lose weight/eat healthier.

I'm 48 years old, divorced, with grown children who no longer live with me. I'm finding 3FC to be the best support group I've ever had! Friends and family, while supportive initially, their interest naturally soon turns to other things. Everyone on 3FC is engaged and interested in the same things.

I find that the only way to stop myself from overeating at home is to have very limited food in the house. I really wish grocery stores would recognize that there are a lot of 1 or 2 person households and would package food in smaller quantities. I would LOVE to be able to buy just two pieces of bread or just two low-fat ice cream bars. My self-control is still non-existant, so I have to immediately throw away the balance of the ice cream bar box, or else I will eat them all in one evening.

My plan has been to eat small "meals" frequently throughout the day. I always eat breakfast - oatmeal, fruit and whole-grain toast, yugurt, egg whites, etc. I also find that eating some vegetables in the car on my way home stops me from eating so much garbage once I get home.

Yaay, it's the weekend! Wish I didn't have a long list of tasks and chores to take care of.

Ayanna, this site has been my most consistent support mechanism for the past two years or so. People come and go on it, rarin' to go for a few weeks and then disappearing, but there are enough of us who hang in there so that I feel like I know women I've never met. I have a lot of weight to lose, so this fall I signed up for a weight-loss program that includes a few visits to a doctor (who may have changed my life by ID'ing thyroid and gluten as problems for me) a nurse practitioner, a nutritionist, a psychotherapist and a physical therapist. It was a great investment for me. The program will be over in a few months, but it's given me a holistic way to look at my weight and health that I never got from seeing professionals in a vacuum, so to speak.

Ashley, my freezer is my best friend! I hate tossing extra food, too! I had lots of out-of-town guests last summer, and bought ice cream, soda, etc., for them, and found it almost physically impossible to throw away the left over once they were gone.

Re TV and eating--I tend to watch TV and read the paper while I eat dinner, which is fine. But around 9PM, when I'm sitting in my comfy chair watching HBO or something, I feel "hungry." Which I'm not, usually, it's just a habit. So this week I've been getting up and having a cup of hot mint tea, looking at my eating log, and the "hunger" drifts away. Sticking to fruit and protein or a Zone Perfect bar for "dessert" has helped with the cravings, along with seeing the scale respond so quickly to saying goodbye to the popcorn and rice snacks.

Have a great weekend, everybody!

judy

Hi everyone,

I haven't checked in for a couple of days - RL has been extremely busy, and all I've had time to do is read the new posts.

I'm doing OK, I think. I had my first weigh in of the new year and discovered I'd gained back 6 lbs over Christmas, which gave me the wake up call I needed. I can put some of it down to TOM, but certainly not all of it. I've been saying since Christmas that I'll get back on programme tomorrow, but usual story - tomorrow never came till I hopped on the scales. I've been on programme since Wednesday and the scales should show an improvement this coming week - they'd better, anyway!

Judy, I hate wasting food too, and I have issues finding recipes that serve only one. My freezer is probably the best buy I ever made - I can make up several batches of soup or whatever and on the nights that I don't want to cook, there's something there that I can just chuck in the microwave.

I'm trying to change the habit of eating in the evening - I get everything cleaned up after dinner and sit down and think I need a treat for getting through the day. Last weekend I dug out all my craft stuff that I haven't touched in about 18 months and picked up a cross stitch I was working on. It seems to be that if I keep my hands busy then I don't feel the need to snack and so far it's working. Long may it continue to work...

Take care everyone
Nicole

Ashley103, I hear you on the packaging food in smaller quantities.

I can either go one of two ways:

1) Binge binge binge. A lot of times when I actually do go (decent) grocery shopping (which isn't very often), I eat majority of the food within the first few days, and the stuff I'm not particularly fond us just sits, never opened.

or

2) I'll have leftovers of something and it'll just sit in my fridge for ages until it crosses my mind that it's no longer any good.

- - - - - -

I don't really have a dinning room - and my table faces the wall (lack of room). I don't have cable, and I don't seem to have the attention span to sit through a movie - but I do eat while watching parts of a movie. Once I'm finished eating, I turn it off; however, I could probably eat through a whole movie.

I want to try and do something a bit different, though I'm not quite sure what though.

I do want to stop eating after 7. My mom did that for awhile, and she said she felt great while doing it, plus dropping a few pounds. The only acception to this will probably be on my school nights (two nights a week). My classes are from 6pm - 8:40pm, and I try to come home even if it's just half an hour - maybe I can squeeze something in then.

So, I'm not quite sure.

Nicole, I hope the scale registers your new focus this week, and you chase those holiday pounds back to where they came from! You're cross-stitching--I pulled out my new "How to Knit" DVD last night and finally figured out the knit stitch...on to purling...

Hey, Spunker, I'm originally from your neck of the woods (and still in mourning over that awful football game last Monday :cry: ). I bet you can figure out a way to manage your eating on school nights with a late, larger lunch and something small and portable during the break between classes.

I have been lounging around a little more than I'd planned this weekend. I've working out and eating on program and in good spirits. Hope everyone else out there is doing well, too!

judy

judydc, I don't know much about football... :o I'm assuming Ohio State lost then? Well, I'm assuming it was Ohio State that was playing since I remember going into stores and just being bombarded with OSU stuff.

For school, it's only twice a week, which isn't bad. I tried four nights a week (in addition to working eight hours five days a week) - that absolutely killed me. I only have on class on each night. Each class is 2 hours and 40 minutes.

I honestly need to change my whole way of eating during the week. I really don't eat while at work. I just have random odds and ends. It's difficult for me to eat and work at the same time, and I get distracted with other things during my short half hour lunch (sometimes homework). So I'm used to just eating when I get home. Last semester I wouldn't have an actual meal until around 8pm.

What kind of exercise do you do?

- - - - - -

Tomorrow is my first appointment at Bally's. My mom and I were supposed to go, but we both freaked out in the parking lot and left. It was packed, and plus we weren't feeling too confident about what we were wearing.

So we rescheduled, and we went shopping for clothes to exercise in instead. We both feel a bit better about going tomorrow evening, which we both swore we'd go no matter what.

Hope everyone enjoyed their weekend :)

I weighed today and has very happy to see that I'd lost the two pounds I picked up over Christmas, plus two of their friends! Down a total of four pounds. Decided to celebrate by buying a better scale. The LCD was messed up on the one I was using, so only the last digit was displaying. Bought a new one that actually shows all three numbers. :D

I had to laugh at Spunker's departure from Bally's parking lot. I've done that before!:D The gym I go to now suits me very well. It's a family gym, with very little spandex to be seen. Pretty much everyone that goes there wears baggy t-shirts and shorts. Much less intimidating.

Hello
 

Happy Monday everyone! I hope you have a successful day to start off your week.

spunker- My favorite exersize is walking. With the days so short and cold and wet that I have been walking at the gym. I like it most of the time. Like around the holidays when it would be almost empty in the cardio area so i could change the station on the t.v. to something more interesting then football. Now that the new year has rolled around the gym is packed both when i go at 5 a.m. or if I go after work at 6 p.m. It is very hard to stay when all the machines are in use. I go to a very small YMCA that I really like but there were two days last week when i did not go just thinking about all of the people. It was better this weekend because I can go at different hours like mid morning or early afternoon. You could gym staffwhat the busy times are. Most of the gyms I have every gone to (and there are only three) have a surge in Janaury that slows down after a few weeks. Ask gym staff if the level of activity is normal or a Janauary surge. Good Luck!

Ashley103- I try to shop at stores that allow me to select and bag my own produce. That way of I want three snow peas i can get three snow peas. You might try the salad bar to buy small amounts of spinach, mushrooms, and peppers for a stir fry or other dishes when you will only need one serving. With meat and rice I cook a few serving and freeze them. I have to freeze them or i some times have eaten a few days worth in one evening. For example i cooked six boneless skinless chicken breast in the oven with just salt and pepper. I ate one of the chicken breast with my dinner last night and the others I put in small snack bags i put the small snack bags in a quart size freezer bag. i throw all of that in my freezer and plan to have easy meals for the next two weeks out of the checken. I will also cook meat loaf and maybe pasta sauce. Buying the larger pack allowed me to save $$ and freezing the chicken cooked helps me with portion control and creating fast meals after work through out the week.

I have a question for you all, can you share with me any ideas you may have for non-food rewards? I am trying to move towards food for fuel. I enjoy food and i don't think there is anything wrong with that but I need to diversify how i reward myself and how I sooth myself or deal with stress. Any ideas?

Hi Ayanna, how about a warm bubble bath for a reward? That's my favourite comfort.
applecake

Spunker, a Bally's gym in January would be awful crowded....they have that big national marketing campaign on the Discovery Channel this time every year, so probably 2/3 of the cars in the parking lot belonged to nervous folks like you and your mom! I'm glad you're going back. I know you won't be intimidated once you get started--anyone who can tune out football in NE Ohio would have no trouble ignoring strangers at the gym!

Re exercise: I try to get in at least 45 minutes of cardio six days a week, and three circuits (strength training while keeping your heart rate up) at least three days a week. I like doing videos early in the morning, and I go to Curves a couple of times a week. I'll probably move from Curves to a "real" gym this summer. I love to walk, so several days a week I can add 20-40 minutes to my cardio by getting off the subway 2 stops early, etc.

Non-food treats? Does watching the Food Channel count :devil: ? I like to play "Home Spa," call a friend or curl up in a corner with a book and a cup of tea to deal with stress. I have had mixed results with attaching rewards to meeting goals, like a scheduling a massage after losing 15 pounds. But if I lose another 10 lbs or more by the spring, I'll have to shop for clothes--and I love shopping for clothes, so that will definitely be a reward!

judy

Yes you'll need new clothes. I've heard 10 pounds is a "dress size" but it might depend on how tall you are.

I'm still clinging to my skinny clothes, hoping to fit back into them before they go out of style.

It's so nice to shed a few pounds and feel a bit of space in the waistbands of my clothes! (Though I haven't lost lately.) Congratulations! Exercising 6X per week, you deserve to feel great!

I'm all about the new clothes. I've been throwing out my fat clothes as I outgrow them, just to force myself not to fall off the program. This is the thinnest I've been in at least 10 years, so I don't have any old "skinny" clothes. I put that in parenthesis because even my "skinny" clothes weren't exactly skinny.

I've also bought a few gadgets as rewards for hitting a goal. My latest was a new scale. Bought a new blender a couple of months ago. I used to buy ice cream as a reward, so I see this as a tremendous improvement.

Wow Ashley103, you rock! The lightest you've been in 10 years, plus overcoming ice cream urges. Fab.