Dieting Club: 50 - 100 Lbs Community

Hi Michelle. I get where you are coming from about working overnight. Although when I was doing it, I wasn't particularly at the point of doing something better for my health, I was certainly overweight enough. And 3rd shift helped that along quite a bit because of the strange eating routines you tend to take on. I worked in a factory, not sure what your situation is, but we had 2 10 min breaks and a 20 for lunch. If we worked 12 hrs, we had two 20s and two 10s. Bout the same for you?
Need to know what you mean about being a "picky" eater. If you have food allergies or are just have an aversion to certain foods. For any of my ideas, Walmart works because although I shop at other stores for some good buys, I pretty much live at Wally World, so I could even prolly steer you to the right aisle for something healthier, lol.
You will not see me mention sitting down to eating big salads... I'm not a salad eater. That's my pickiness. But I have found that since I like "finger foods" that having bags of baby carrots, ziplocs of fingerling sized cut celery, sliced raw zucchini , green peppers and cucumber slices, that I will eat those and they are handy to pack into smaller ziplocks to take along..... NOTE THE UNDERHANDED SUGGESTION THERE< POKE POKE!
We really don't "diet" per se, here. We really only make changes with more healthier choices in our foods and try to stick to the suggested serving sizes on items. Like a piece of meat the size of a hockey puck instead of one the size of a notebook
The serving sizes are printed on everything with a label. If you use condiments like mayo or miracle whip, salad dressings(ranch, blue cheese, etc) , find fat free or Light ones they immediatly cut calories in a painless way.
Same with cheese. Kraft has fat free shredded cheddar, and if you like cream cheese as a spread,use Fat free or at least Neufchatel which is about 1/3 less calories.
You are prolly eating for convenience, meaning lots and lots of little Michelina frozen dinners and cheapy pot pies, lol. It's what I did, so , I'm assuming here....For the price and the calories you consume with them, you are getting very little "bang for the buck" nutritionwise. Very little protein in those things, as in most frozen dinners, and way too much fat and sodium to make them good choices.
In the Deli section at Walmart, look for Heart Healthy Wheat/flax or Oat pita breads. They only have 60 calories per WHOLE one. Cut in half , then stuff with 1/2 pk per pocket of those cheapy Carl Buddig meats. They are only about 90 calories per whole pkt. Then use 1 Tblsp of light mayo or miracle whip, some mustard and a handful of fresh baby spinach, add some sliced apple if you wish for extra flavor and some filling fiber. Each of these pita pockets have only about 130 calories, high fiber which fills you up , and lots of nutrients from the spinach and very very little fat and sodium. Make up 2 or 3 of these for the night and have with grapes, melon chunks, a dill pickle, olives...or those pre sliced veggies I was talking about earlier. In 3 meals like this, you would have about the same amount of calories as ONE Michelina or pot pie and less fat and sodium.
Its all in choices. Finding better alternatives for the foods you eat. Every little change for the better will help add up to pounds lost.
Start a food and fitness planner here on WebMd or on Fitday.com to find out how many calories and how much exercise you should shoot for per day to reach your goal. Then, just hold your breath, and jump in.
There's no better day to start your day, than today.
huggs
kim

Hi Michelle and welcome. I am a picky eater as well, but I have honestly found that since I removed the junk food from my diet, I actually enjoy foods that I would have turned my nose up at before. Take baby steps. Don't try to change everything at once. Maybe increase veggies at first...and definitely start logging your food. it's a pain at first, but you get used to it. It is eye opening to see what you are actually consuming. It wasn't so much how many calories that I was consuming it was how out of whack my nutrition was. You can do it. Keep checking in and tell us how you are doing.

Hi Michelle
i am adding my welcome another picky eater myself but I did manage to remove 98 ish pounds and have been maintaining it for 9ish years so even picky eaters can remove unwanted pounds...You have gotten great info from Kim and Debbie
Hugs Judy:)

Welcome aboard!

Thank so much Kim! I notice that you respond to many posts; you're just AWESOME . Well I started off wall for about 3 miles which quickly came to a halt. But I get up and walk for about 30 mins or more a day; which is out of the norm for me. Can you believe, I can already notice a change in my cloths; nothing major but it is a start!!!!!

I am still struggling with eating small meals during the day. It's not that I am a HUGE eater, the problem is I sometimes eat only once or twice a day. I am thinking about joining a gym for added support, but the thing is I have a 24 hour gym in my community that is very nice...but I find myself slacking there also.

I know I need self discipline!!!

Thanks you abnersmom! I am taking baby steps, but I don't think I can allow myself to eat certain things. Junk food is no problem for me; I eliminated that about 6 months ago. My problem is CARBS! It's sad because I know what I need to do, but I can never push myself hard enough to stay on path.

Hi Sweety, thanks for the compliment. You get one too..... grats on your looser clothing! You go girl!
If you aren't all that motivated about the gym, save your money for better fitting clothes in the future. Gyms are nice if you are a gym person, and committed and inspired by them. Give yourself some time before you spend the bucks to join. Better idea is to get a walking buddy. If you have a dog, great, they need their exercise too. If not, ask your sister, your mom, your best friend, borrow the neighbors teenager.... whatever you have to do to stay involved with your walking routine, do it. Walking is the overall best exercise defense to start with and stay with. Since it relieves stress, is good cardio, is low impact(on your joints) it's an excellant way to get in your daily quota of caloric burn.
When I started out, I was S L O W, lol. I have a bad hip, and I weeble walk..... it used to take me about 45 min to walk a mile on gravel with periodic slight inclines (nature trail). About a month or so into it, I noticed I wasn't weebling as much, I increased my speed and did it in 35 min. I found that a decent clip for me is around 25 min for that trail. So that's what I shoot for. I didn't increase the distance just decreased the time. And now I also do an evening 3/4 mile walk on city sidewalks. Both walks, 5-6 days a week.
A good thing to do right now is to take a sewing tape measure and jot down the measurements of your waist, hips, lower tummy at poochiest point, your bust, both biceps, both wrists, both thighs, both calves and both ankles. Date it and remeasure every 30 days or so. When the scale stops during a plateau, these data collection times can be live savers because even if you arent losing weight, your size will be decreasing , and it'll give you incentive NOT to give up.
huggs
k

Tanz, Getting control of the carbs is tough. That was my issue. The white pasta really had "power" over me. I had to work really hard to stop my night-eating bowls of that pasta. But when I increased the veggies and had small amounts of protein and got 64 oz. of water (tea and Crystal Light), I was not ravenous hungry or craving the white carbs and guess what, the weight came down gradually, too.

You can do this!

P.S. For snacks I eat 4-5 cups of air popped popcorn and 1 string cheese and a 22 oz. Crystal Light.

Barb

I just recently joined a gym and I have been on this journey for 3 or 4 years. They offer discounted pricing at my work and the only way for me to get my daily exercise in is during my lunch. I was running at the park but it got too hard on my back. I walk on my breaks at work but I need intense workout too. There a couple of co workers going to the gym so we make it a goal to go during lunch. I still go regardless if they don't go but in order to have that mindset you have to be more self discipline and that takes a lot of time. It took me forever to get there it seems like so you will too! Good luck and try to eat more regularly.