Thank you everyone for the warm welcome. Today is the first day of the south beach diet. managed ok and went to the gym with the hubby tonight and walked 4 miles on the treadmill and then worked out on the machines. Now I am pooped Time to have my snack and hit the hay!
Now... I can't remember and I can't find who it was that gave me the stellar advice to add a little protein to my morning snack-a-thon to curb my appetite, but thank-you thank-you thank-you!! It works. I've added a little yogurt and I gotta tell you - I feel great and I haven't had the urge to bully some grade nine kid for his lunch money.
BTW, I recently went to the Farmer's Market and picked up some yogurt from one of the booths. It is organic, not low in fat or calories, but is it good! Something about it being made locally feels better. I wonder how many of the preservatives they add to food affects us and what we eat. i.e. - My lovely partner and I were sitting down to dinner and I put some tasty horseradish/mustard on my plate, when he looked at the label and told me I was about to eat propylene glycol!!
I wonder what the new Canada Food Guide says about where the propylene glycol fits on the spectrum.
Anyways; everyone sounds like they are doing well.
Keep it up!!
Tammy
So... there's a thread in the Support forum today about fake sugars that I was finding interesting, and I'm wondering how you guys feel about it.
I was thinking that Splenda was totally ok for me, and now I'm going to have to question that. It's frustrating, though, because it feels like NOTHING is good for you now. I mean, sugar = bad, artificial sugar = bad, non-organic meats = bad, non-organic fruits & veggies = bad, organic meats, fruits & veggies = $$$$... processed foods = bad (that's one I don't have a big problem with). Water = good, but only to a certain extent. Does this make any sense? I'm just frustrated because I'm trying to do what's best for my body on a very limited budget, with limited time (as we all have) to prepare foods and plan meals, and I feel like there's always something that I'm forgetting. Oops, didn't watch how much dairy I was getting, how much sodium, how many veggies, how much fiber... BLAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If someone could just make up a weekly meal plan for me that gave me the perfect nutrition and didn't cost a fortune, I'd be one happy woman!
Shelby, I don't blame you for being kerbaffled. There's just waaaay to much information, opinion and pseudoscience out there with regard to food.
For what it's worth ... here's what I think.
There's real live food out there. You can pick it up and look at it and recognise it for what it is ... an apple is an apple, a chunk of chicken is obviously a part of a chicken and so on ... These are the ideal but there is other stuff. I feel that if I eat as fresh as I can afford and keep artificial or processed stuff to a minimum ... I've done the best I can do.
Wow has this day ever gotten away from me . . . had a 3 hour 'business' meeting today and that has really put a crimp in my normal activities -- hey, I'm supposed to be retired. Then, the Opthamologist called and my first cataract surgery has been pushed ahead a week and is now scheduled for next Wednesday. That is not a bad thing in and of itself . . . at least it doesn't throw off the rest of my tightly orchestrated surgery dates for this spring . . . just means I have some rearranging to do.
My feelings on artificial sugars . . . hey, nothing is good any more, so just try to follow the oldest guideline there is . . . 'everything in moderation'. I certainly use Splenda and I intend to continue. I also get a little HFCS from time to time. I really don't think you need to worry so long as you aren't living on the stuff. I mean . . . real sugar is harmful a cup at a time . . . so is fake sugar; but most of us don't eat a cup at a time. You can drive yourself crazy if you try to avoid everything that might be bad . . . besides, the latest bit of news will be different by this time next month.
Anyway, I'd better get off and running again. Just wanted to say a quick hello to all. Hope everybody has been having a great moving and shaking kind of day. Keep doing the good stuff, gang . . . see you soon . . .
I can totally understand the whole TMI thing when it comes to food. Basically what I choose to live by is: the fewer ingredients, the better. Anything you can't pronounce = don't put it in your body because it's probably not good for you. And get food as fresh as you can afford, BUT frozen fruits and veggies are just as nutritious as fresh, and they're usually cheaper and last longer. I use honey instead of sugar... it's probably just as many calories but they're not refined so I feel like they're more natural. But too much of anything is not generally a good thing... in the words of Julia Child(e?): everything in moderation... including moderation
I did alright today, tucked into some grapefruit and cereal for bfast, veggie soup for lunch, and a 1/2 tuna sandwich and peas for supper. made it to aerobics for an hour too! feelin' good lol
A little bit back I had posted on the main intro board and have finally found this canadian thread. I will just re copy my original post and I look forward to meeting everyone!
. I originally just came for the receipies but I've read some of the threads and there is so much inspiration on here.
So anyways My name is Joelle. I'm 30, married 6.5 years and we have a son 3 and daughter 1.5.
I never really had an issue with my weight until I was about 23 and its been all down hill since then. I always seemed to be lingering around the 170 mark and then I got pregnant. I gained 52 pounds and then managed to get down to the 180's quite easy which I was fairly happy with as I was going to start working hard to get to my goal of 140. Well when my son was 6 months old he was diagnosed with cancer and anything about me just didn't matter anymore. He was first priority. Once all was wonderful with him it was time to work on me again. That was short lived when I got pg with my daughter.
So now its time. I've joined Curves (which I absolutly love) and although its a slow start...its something. I started Curves the End of Dec at a start weight of 189 and I'm at 181.5 now. I'm kind of disappointed with myself though. I work so hard, I go 4-5 times a week and work my butt off while I'm there...and yet not much to show for it. I know I really have to work on my eating habits and I've done ok...stopped my late night snacking...etc
Just wanted to say thanks for being the inspiration, motivation I needed to get myself back into high gear!
Sorry for the long babble...anyone who read this to the end...that was a workout in itself!
My name is Joelle and dh, myself and our munchkins live in the Durham area
Aside from working out at Curves, I have altered my diet but have a long way to go in that dept....cut out most of the sweets (my downfall), cut out all the chips etc etc and make healthier dinner decisions....
So we'll see where all that gets me....
and then worked out 
on the machines. Now I am pooped
Time to have my snack and hit the hay!
one and all!!
...
KEEP IT UP 
.... 
another good day
feelin' good lol
