Dieting Club: 50 - 100 Lbs Community

Welcome aboard. You are in the right place. We don't care how much weight you need to lose or if you just need support. We all have our stories and most of them you can find in our profiles. It will take time for you to be able to not be so out of breath you do more exercise that your body is used too. You have build up. Walking is the best way to do just that. I got to where I could run 2 miles without stopping. I had to quit doing it because it was hurting my back way too much but it wasn't because I couldn't do it. It was because there is something wrong with my back but don't have the money or the time to take off from work to get it fixed. I started bike riding and now that is my vigorous exercise. Now let's talk about you. What's your diet like? Also logging your food is the best way to keep track of your daily calories. You can use fitday.com or WebMD fitness planner.

Hi Amber, Terri here. You asked about diet? I don't care much for pork or fish but I eat beef and chicken occasionally. I like fish but my kids won't eat it. On vegetables I like most anything and like big salads at least once a week. I always take dressing on the side and when I eat out I never use the whole ramekin they give me. I've never measured but I think I use maybe 2 tbs. I'm kinda picky on fruits: apples, oranges, grapes, bananas, melon, cherries, strawberries & peaches when in season. On the grains, I usually buy 100% whole wheat bread, but will get white bread for the hamburger/hot dog buns. I bought a bread machine recently for only $7 (Goodwill) so have been doing my own baking lately.

I cook a lot for my family (single mom of two teenage boys) and always make healthy food. My sons are athletes and only occasionally do they want sweets and they don't drink pop or eat candy except maybe at Christmas and Easter. I think we eat pretty well for the 3 meals so I don't think that's the problem. My issues are eating too big portions and I do like sweet/salty snacks. I also think I drink too much coffee and diet coke and probably not enough plain water. I like desserts and if it's offered I always take some. Plus, it doesn't help that I love to bake and make treats as presents and offerings for family events. I make a very good carrot cake w/ cream cheese frosting.

I've not seen fitday.com but I signed up for a food log at everydayhealth.com. You know, one thing that is a nagging, life-long problem is staying on top of schedules, organizing, and keeping tight records. I can just smell the failure at keeping records of what I eat and I hate that about me. I really want to change this behavior. I've heard that it really helps to log what you're eating and I know in my head that it's a great tool. I need more faith in myself and enough stamina to keep this going.

Hi Terri
welcome aboard after reading your 2 posts it appears you have a portion control problem I used to eat rather healthy but I had an Ice cream problem with portion problems too
and yes water to replace soda is the right step // coffee if you drink it black it is accually good for you and can boost metabolism a little.
green tea is also a good drink to add .. It might help to purchase a food scale to measure portions I weigh all my meats and fruits I eyeball the green vegies I also weigh potatos and sweetpotatos measure rice in a measureing cup.. I use measureing cups to measure cereals too.. these thing can help keep portions under control.
Hugs Judy:)

Hello Terri
It sounds as if you're well positioned to start losing weight - you are already eating healthy, and you like exercise/activity. Those are two big advantages.
As for logging - I don't like it either and find it cumbersome and it seems to add more "activity clutter" to my day. Not that logging is not a useful tool for most people - it has helped the majority of people here.
I do keep a mental tally of what I eat; I think it is all about awareness. I can tell you at the end of the day what I've eaten, and if it was too much, without writing it down.
In fact, I resist logging, because to me it feels as if it focuses my mind more on food and eating, which I don't want. I am struggling enough as it is without thinking about food more; thinking aboutf food makes me want to eat more! I think one can still diet successfully without keeping a precise food log.
Anyway, good luck and post here regularly. It is nice to be part of the WebMD diet family - people who don't judge one.

Hi Terri, I'm Kim.
You know what your problem areas are better than anyone else. You already know that you are eating too big of portion sizes, perhaps even seconds and thirds of those, and the baked goods and other desserts.
The biggest step forward for you will be to curtail the portion sized on all of these things, good stuff and bad in order to cut your calories.
I agree with Judy about the soda pop. I was a 3-4 bottle a day diet soda'er too. Once you start carrying a big water bottle with you everywhere you go, and feel like you are drying up to dust when you don't have it, you will know you've got the coke habit broken! LOL I drink a diet pop on my lunch out on Friday with my bf but that's it. I'm not sure what it is about them, maybe the carbonation, but they taste really salty to me now and I just can't seem to finish even the one I do order.
I've lost just a hair over 50lbs since Jan , 2012. I too, am a baker and now I just bake the stuff , freeze it up in batches and ship it off with my bf for him and his work buddies. I bake to relax, not to eat it so much anymore.
I'm originally from Michigan, and before meeting my Southern Bf , I was eating too much but better stuff. I rarely ate beef, or pork and mostly ate chicken breasts different ways.
Came South and all that changed. I was scarfing up breads, bbq , and fried foods like they were going out of style. Cause, honey, that's what SOUTHERNERS do..... that had to stop! lol
My bf likes his "man food" , and has severe allergies to ALL fish and shellfish. even lake fish. So I fix two different meals every night. I like canned tuna in water, tilapia, all shellfish, and mussels , and boneless skinless chicken breast fixed different ways , so my stuff is pretty fast to cook. I can still get everything prepared start to finish in about 30 min for most of our dual dinners, so it's still ok.
You can stilll have desserts, just aim for sugar free, fat free stuff, like jello and puddings, or fresh fruits with a small amount of angel food cake and ff reddi whip.
You just have to eat a little smarter and you'll make it.
K

Welcome, Terri. Logging is not for everyone, but it sure helped me when I started my journey. It was shocking to me to see what I was really eating, calorie wise and nutritionally.

Keep posting and let us know how you are doing.

thank you, everybody for the replies. I think it's super-helpful to hear from others and I will be visiting here and sharing more. I'll try to pop in each week.

And using the calorie counter and logging food is quite eye-opening so I agree Abner'smom! For example, I logged my meals and snacks from yesterday thinking I was in my range of 1,500- 1,800 calories. Oh, no far from it. I was close to 2,200. I'll try to keep it up so I can educate myself on what I"m eating and what servings should look like.

Welcome here Terri,

What helps me watch my portions is using the same bowls for my foods. I use a cup size bowl for fruits. A 3 cup bowl for large salads. Cottage cheese is the salad dressing ramekin. I also drink 64 oz. of water and have water bottles so I know the amount drank each day.

This is cutting way back on what I used to eat and drinking alot more water than before.

When you lost the 60 lbs. in 2006 how did you do that? Also when you put it back on you said it was because of lack of consistent exercise. For me, I would lose only to go back to bad eating habits. It took me a long time to get into any consistent exercise. I walk for one hr. most days and do another hour on the elliptical. But when I started here over 2 yrs. ago, I only walked 15 min. a day, even that was an improvement for me to get off that couch.

Let us know how you do. Remember slow progress is still PROGRESS!

Barb

I use Barb's idea too. Using smaller plates, cups and bowls. I actually buy mine right in the toddler dinnerware section at walmart. The little bowls are the absolute perfect size for my 24 bales of brown sugar mini wheats (suggested serving size) with 3/4 cup of Almond silk milk. And the plastic drink glasses are almost exactly 1c which makes it very helpful to stay within serving size range too. As for the plates, I actually own 2 of the little sectioned ones, I fill the big section with salad or cut up finger veggies and the smaller sections for meat and fruit/dairy, like fat free cottage cheese and pineapple or peaches. The size of these containers fools your mind's eye, you still see a full plate of food and yet, you are staying well within recommendations.

Terri, I had much the same experience when I started logging. Remember to watch the nutrients too. I was eating way too much protein, now I have doubled if not tripled my daily veggie intake. Good luck!

Sounds like you are on the right track, just need to watch those portions.