[NicoleNYC]

Nichola - we are having another trip to the beach in September - which is AGES away. My youngest brother's girlfriend is friggin BARBIE. Long legs, lond blond hair and all. BARBIE. And she's like 19. Oh kill me now. If she weren't so sweet I'd've bumped her off by now. The thought of having to drag my flabby 31 year old butt out on the beach with that CHILD, that Barbie CHILD, has very much kept me on track. I can be neither 19 again nor Barbie but I can certainly do better than my present situation. It's also really kept me working out. If I'm going to tan by Barbie, I need to work every option I have.

I guess my point is - do what you have to do. Count calories, read lots of diet books, pick any of dozens of easy peasy methods like never eating anything larger than your fist - do whatever works for you. If it works for you and it's not hurting you, then it's a good plan.

Dot - the "one day at a time" thing is very good advice. I never really understood what that meant - I mean, of COURSE you do things one day at a time. Duh. You can't do two. But now it makes more sense and I "get it" and it makes a huge difference!

[HealthyMari]

Happy Tuesday, ladies!

Nichola - I know it's frustrating, but I think Dot is right....one day at a time. It took me many many years to really get on a steady workout program b/c I'd get all excited, push myself too hard, be so disappointed that I couldn't hang in there or was super-sore the next day that I would just up and quit altogether.

I think healthy eating is the best approach and what has worked for me, and it's a combination of many things: including lots of fruits and veggies into your day (as snacks or bad carb replacements), watching portions (by eating enough but not too much), by cutting out the junk food (with healthy "indulgences" like Snackwell cookies or Healthy Choice Ice cream), and by buying reduced-fat, non-fat whenever possible. By watching portion sizes and the TYPES of food you purchase, it really cuts out all the tedious hassle of counting calories. And drink lots of water!!!!!!

I hope I didn't go off rambling...it just has really helped me to have a better relationship with food when I think about it this way.

How are everyone else's methods for a healthy 2004 fairing?

-Mari

[happy dance dot]

Nichola- I agree with Mari too. Whatever you can buy that's fat free, low cal, low carb, skim milk do so it helps. Also make sure you're putting in those fruits and veges, enough as to fill you, but also with other food so you're not hungry all day either. I find that veges and salads keep you from going for that second serving, but I also need the more solid/ heavy food to fill me up in the long run. Just combine them. Also as we all know water helps a lot too, if you don't like water try seltzer water( sodium free) I love that stuff! Hope this helps.

Brandy- Glad the one day at a time helped you. I was the same way...wanted to see results in a week, but never sticked to the plan for more than a month. Now I been on this for about four months. Hey I don't care if its 1 lb at a time, at least its 1 down and closer to my goal than gaining.

okie dokie take care chickies!

[Fat in Hong Kong]

Hi Girls,

Thanks for all your help and possible solutions to my problems. I know what you all say is right ... now I just need to put it into practise!

Dot, I know I should be taking it one day at a time and not giving up when I have a bad day. Unfortunately, I've been having rather a lot of bad days lately On the positive side, every day starts off well ... I don't have time for brekkie at home before I go out to work, so I always take a low fat yogurt or fruit to eat as soon as I arrive. Then I have a piece of fruit at breaktime ... 10.15am. My problem time right now seems to be when I arrive home at around 1.30pm (and again before dinner!!) ... I'm absolutely ravenous and end up shovelling food into my mouth!! Maybe I should start taking something a bit more substantial to eat at breaktime.

Mari, I think I agree with you about the healthy eating approach rather than counting calories or points or fat grams or whatever ... I seem to become obsessed with them and my whole life ends up revolving around food ... I swear I end up eating more than I normally would!! Believe it or not, I do already have a fairly healthy approach to food ... I always buy lots of fruit, salad and veggies (which I need to eat more of), and I aways buy low cal options for butter, mayo, yogurt, skimmed milk etc. Part of my problem is over-eating ... I always have huge portions, so I really do need to work on my portion control. I liked your comment about having a better relationship with food ... that's something I need to look at too.

Brandy, what can I say ... BARBIE CHILD Thanks a million for putting a smile on my face And I couldn't agree more with your quote ... "If I'm going to tan by Barbie, I need to work every option I have". I need to take a leaf out of your book and start working on all my options.

OK girls, I'm feeling much more positive now I've spoken with you chickies ... let's see what tomorrow brings .....

Nichola

[NicoleNYC]

It's so funny that this lifestyle v. counting conversation has come up. I realized yesterday that I am sick unto death of counting and tracking and planning and the blah blah blah of it all. I tend to eat when I'm bored. Not from stress or emotions or whatever - sheer boredom. So all this food focusedness is NOT helping me. I KNOW WW works and it has worked for me, but I also believe I'm even more food focused than ever. I still have most of the great WD principles to lean on and I DO for the most part (I NEVER eat till I'm full, I take tiny portions, I only eat what I really like and leave the stuff I'm eh about) but I find myself doing the same thing every afternoon around 4 pm - cruising the cabinets. Not because I'm hungry, but because I'm bored. And with WW, I can always finagle a way to fit in a snack. I'm obsessed with points. I need a break. Not from trying to lose weight, but from counting. And even tho I like structure, I think it's because I like to work the system - instead of thinking for myself and making decisions, I can let someone else set the guidlines and I can just bounce all around in there ALL BUT breaking the "rules." The only time in my LIFE I've ever lost and maintained a loss was when I kept myself super busy (no boredome eating) and just made better choices about food in general.

SO most of this is just rambling for my benefit but I'm glad I have you guys to mull it over with.

Also, Nichola, if you tend to over eat when you're starving - you're right - take something more substantial when you DO eat so you're not starving for the next meal or break. It's HARD to make good choices when you're starving! Along with your fruit, try a few almonds. Or if you like fruit and cheese, try that. Sneak a little protein in there and see if it doesn't last longer.

Ok guys, I'm off to have a no counting day. I may be back and counting by the end of the week, but today I need a BREAK!

Brandy

[happy dance dot]

Hi girls!

Brandy I hear ya girl. Do what's best for you.

Nichola- I agree with Brandy...eat a little more so you're not starving between meals...I know how hard it is when you starving...****, I just grab whatever is in front of me at that point, then I feel bad. Glad it hasn't happened in a while though, I just bring a lot of ziploc bags with me to work so i am nibbling throughout the day.

Mari, Lorraine, Raff where are you girls? Hope all is well.

[HealthyMari]

Dot - I hear ya! I am the ziploc queen! You and I might be the ones keeping their stocks up! I'm trying to have timely snacks though. I was an all-day nibbler and I found that I packed myself more food so I could get through the whole day. So now I'm doing a time thing: have stuff at b-fast, then small snack at 10am, then lunch, then small snack at 2 or 3. It's working so far!

Brandy - Hope your day works out well! Let us know!

Nichola - You can do it girl!

How's everyone else? Where did ya'll go? I'm having a good day b/c I packed an uber-healthy lunch and am feeling good. I'm also averaging 5 miles per run, which is an up from the 3.5 that I was averaging about 2 months ago. Half marathon in July, here I come!

Happy Wednesday!
-Mari

[NicoleNYC]

Well, it was nice to have a non-counting day. I think I ate less than I have in weeks - maybe because I wasn't thinking and planning about food. Who knows. But for a while yet, I'm just going to try to eat better (not as vague as it sounds, I have a plan!) and count nothing.

And when that stops working, maybe I'll start counting again. OF course, counting what - dunno.

Mari, you running thing, that's amazing!

Dot, guess we'll have to keep up the convo till the other girls show up.

Brandy

[ecchs]

Just pooping in after coming back from the Xray clinic. I've been having problems with my right leg (numbness in a few areas radiating from my hip, down my butt and back of thigh, over to the side of my kneew and sprialling to the front of my shin to my ankle) so the Dr. wants to rule out disc problems. Yay. Here's hoping it's just a pinched nerve.

I've been really thinking hard about this healthy me thing. Brandy, I hear you on the bored and obsessed front. WW worked for me, but I stopped working for it, so now I'm hooped. But, I've paid my cash and I'm determined to get my money's worth now, so here's to another pound loss next week. Won't be around much in the next week (like I am usually...) as DH is in Texas and I'll be up to my eyebrows in 2.8 year old. We're going on a little mini vacation to the mountains this weekend, so that should be really nice. I'll let you all know how it went!

TTFN!
Lorraine

[NicoleNYC]

Lorraine, hope the xray comes back with good news for you - and enjoy that vacation!

I bought the At Home kit which only comes with 12 weeks worth of weekly journals, then I switched to a notebook. I lost about - I don't know, between 17 and 20 pounds on it? So I feel like I got my money's worth. And I still have the materials if I decide to go back and try it again.

In the meantime, it's only been a few days but I've enjoyed not counting. I've promised myself that the trade off will be that I won't be mindless when I do eat, I will pay attention and make good choices. So far, so good. Here's hoping I keep it together.

Hope things are going well for the rest of you. Have a wonderful weekend!

Brandy

[happy dance dot]

Mari- hahaha thats funny...the ziploc thingy...I do 3 meals a day pus 2-3 snacks....ah man I gotta go...work calls...lol


take care all ...oh yea and I am 156!!! Got out of that 159 plateau

[Fat in Hong Kong]

Congratulations Dot for breaking through that plateau! you're well on your way to success

Lorraine, hope everything's ok with the x-rays.

Brandy, glad the non-counting day went well.

I've take everyones advice on board and I'm trying not to obsess about the whole diet thingy. I'm going to give it a go with the healthy eating lifestyle instead of counting cals and see what happens for a couple of weeks. I'm going to choose healthy options for snacks etc, and reduce my portions which I know is one of my biggest problem areas. I'll also be taking something a bit more filling to work with me for breaktime so that I'm not so hungry when I get home for lunch.

Hope you're all having a great weekend

Nichola

[Fat in Hong Kong]

Wow, where has everyone disappeared to?? I usually check-in every Monday to find that I have to catch up with about 20 posts!!!! ... Today I discover there have been no posts since my last one on Saturday ........

Anyway, just want to let you all know that I'm raring to go on my new healthy eating plan. I haven't weighed in for 2 weeks as I've been such a bad girl and just couldn't stay on track ... truth is, I hopped on the scales this morning and not surprisingly, I'm back up to 174. However, I'm feeling very motivated right now ... partly due to all your helpful advice ... and partly due to the fact that I have my very own diet buddy ... my hubby Not that he has a major weight problem, although losing a few pounds wouldn't do him any harm. His reason for changing his diet is due to the fact that he was diagnosed with having high blood pressure a few months ago. He already has a fairly healthy diet, but he was recommended to try a diet called 'The DASH Eating Plan' (which stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension), which is a low fat/low sodium diet. We started reading into it and were shocked at the sodium levels in foods that we have always thought to be healthy. Anyway, the plan will benefit both hubby with his high blood pressure and myself as it's a healthy eating plan that all adults can follow. It's extremely simple to follow, based on so many servings of each food group daily. Obviously I'm going to be spending a lot of time checking out food labels when I go shopping, but hopefully it will help both of us to become more healthy.

Hope you all had a good weekend and good luck for the coming week.

Nichola

PS - I've added a little quote to the bottom of my posts ... I saw it in a magazine recently and thought it was rather appropriate.

[RaffaellaBella]

Hey Everyone! I haven't been getting notifications of posts so I've missed a bit.

Hope everyone is OK. Its cold, snowy and wet in NYC now. Yuck. I'm getting tired of it.

Well got to go. Just got in from a long night at my friend's house.

Take care,
Raff

[NicoleNYC]

Hi guys!

Raff - it IS yucky here. I'm glad at least it's sunny today (for now) - even if it is a little (a LOT) slushy.

Nichola - best of luck to you and your hubby! It's great to have a buddy (now if only I could get mine interested again).

So far, so good for me. I still have about 7 pounds to go to meet my 10% goal and I was hoping to do it by the end of Jan. Who knows. I may yet make it!

Brandy