The Diet/Self-Improvement Thread

[packgal]

it's funny how "into" dieting men can be once they get going, and how successful they can be at it (quickly). when my husband and i were really trying to lose weight last year, he dropped 33 lbs while i lost 18. it makes me jealous

[lcash]

Hey, ladies, how are we doing on our quests for a perfect (OK, I''m good with "not-plus-size") body? Since January 1, I've lost about 15 pounds, though I quit weighing myself ttwo weeks ago because the little ups and downs were driving me crazy. I'd been maintaining my eating plan very well - until last night, when I decided I was going to die if I didn't have apple cobbler with vanilla ice cream. So my hubby and I went to our favorite restaurant and shared one! Now I'm feeling a lot less deprived, so hopefully I can hang on for another 15 pounds before that happens again. I'm not exercising very much, which makes the weight loss slow. I've got a bulging disk in my neck, and I'm afraid to do anything too active. It's been a problem in the past, and the doctor said the next flare-up will require surgery. I'm choosing to call this incident a warm-up rather than a flare-up!

Chime in, friends, let's celebrate our successes and commiserate our trials! Lauren

[karen]

Wow!!!!! That's really incredible! What have you been doing- besides skipping dessert? Those bulging disks are scary- I had a herniated one, and lost the feeling in my leg for about a week. The way the docs talk about them- it's frightening, but I've seen what can happen when they really go wrong. It brought by big, tough father to his knees- I really thought it would kill him. Take care of yourself. Did they give you any exercises to do? With a herniated disk they helped quite a bit, but mine was lower down.

I've quit the weighing game too. There was a Cornell professor who said to weigh yourself every day with a digital scale- well- bah. I can swing a pound or 2 throughout the day- so I'm skipping the daily weigh-ins. It was too easy to get discouraged. I'm pretty sure he was a nutrition professor, and not a psych professor which is where a lot of my food issues come from.

I'm down a total of 12 since I started, but I haven't been taking it as seriously as I did in the beginning, and I think I may have gained muscle. My legs are really toned. All of my pants are too big on me- I'm officially out of the plus size zone, but I'd like to drop another 15 or so. I'm not sure if I can do that, and really maintain it, but I think I'll know when it's "enough". I'm going more by the way my clothes fit me and the way that I feel- which is really good most of the time. I've moved "me" to the bottom of the list the past few weeks, and it's starting to show. Hopefully when we get into the new house and things settle down I'll be back in action.

[lcash]

Taking care of ourselves is the first thing to go, isn't it?! I've been avoiding refined sugar and any food that could be determined "sweets" - deserts, candy, etc. Substituting whole wheat for white flour (bread, etc,), lots of water, and writing down everything that goes in my mouth. About 1/4 of the time, that conscious act of writing it down stops me from eating something I shouldn't. Also, I pack in the morning what I'll eat during the day (Lean Cuisine, ff yoghurt, fruit, salad, etc) with no restrictions of when I eat it. My job has no consistency except what time I come in (7:15) - from then on, there's a loose schedule which typically dissolves by 9AM, and it's full speed ahead until 5 or 6PM.
I'm being careful with the disk thing. Heat and cold help, and it's usually not uncomfortable unless I'm laying down. The surgery they described sounds horrendous - going in through the front of the neck, either fusing the disks or replacing with cadaver bone. I'll hold off even thinking about it until after son's wedding.
You can make the new house a part of your better eating plan. You can save MUCH money by preparing all your own food (which will help with renovations), and you'll know exactly what you're eating. One thing I've noticed - the occasional meal out or apple cobbler tastes INCREDIBLE!!

[Ghost]

that is amazing Icash. congrats

I got weighed today - I didn't lose anything but I didn't gain either. I know I've lose weight I can see it in my face and my clothes so I'm clinging to the fact it's toning mucsle from all the exercise.

again well done Icash. Inspration to us all

[lcash]

Thanks, Ghost. It's fun to see the changes in the clothes. I'm slowly reducing to the point where I can wear some nice duds I bought before I blew up again. Sometimes I think it would be so much easier if we just took a nutrition pill 3x/day - no cooking, no clean-up, no choices. But then I think back to when I was on the Cambridge Diet many years ago. It was powder mixed into non-caloric liquid. Tasted like dirty dishwater. Lost lots of weight, but thought I'd go insane because I wanted to CHEW something!! As soon as I returned to eating "real food", up went the pounds. (Sigh)

Don't get frustrated if the scale isn't moving. Heavy exercising builds muscle, which is heavier than the fat you're losing. You were my initial inspiration!

[Ghost]

Thanks Icash, Its just that I've been doing this for over a year and I'm getting bored and frustrated. If I could just afford to employ someone to cook and prepare all me healthy low fat meals for me I'll be happy. I can have something interesting to eat everyday and I wouldn't have to worry about the calories as the cook would do it - and in this little world of mine chocolate would have no calories and be consider as one of the 4 essential food groups. In fact it would have a group unto itself called choco-good it would contain milk, white and dark chocolates with swiss and belgian as sub groups

Glad you can buy nice duds we have a store chain in south west of England Seconds Ahead. They are stocked with 6 months old (or more) clothes from the more popular chains and they are priced at aleast 25% or more off the original price. I must pop in and browse aleast once a week since I can now fit in them

[egerandi]

Any of you gals using an online calorie counting program? I've tried the food diary, but I get too lazy about entering the items, and then I would still have to go online to find out what is their worth. I would love to have something that works both online and on my iphone, and I don't mind paying for it. Just curious about others' experience with this.

[lcash]

I'm not sure what platform your phone needs, but if you search Diet and Fitness listings in Handango, palmgear, or other such sites you're sure to find something. The one I use on my Palm is Diet and Fitness Assistant. It has a huge database of foods as well as listings for fast foods and some restaurants, such as Applebee's. It also quantifies the calories burned in exercise, which you can customize to your personal routine. You enter your current weight, the weight you are "shooting for", and the timeframe you want to do it. It will then calculate how many calories you can consume in a day, factoring in exercise and Basic Metabolic Rate. You then enter the foods you eat, and it calculates totals, including nutrient values. I was rather horrified to find out how much fat I was eating, but it's certainly helped me be much more careful in what goes in my mouth. Hope you find something that works for you!! Lauren

[egerandi]

The iphone is mac. Unfortunately, I don't think I can use the one you recommended, but I did find a few other apps that look promising. They do pretty much the same that you described: track calorie consumption and usage to help you achieve wait loss based on counting and exercise. You can even make up your own recipes to estimate the calories in new foods. It's going to be a task, adding the custom info, so I hope I can stick with it, hehe. I'll report back if I find a good one.