Dieting Club: 50 - 100 Lbs Community

LOL just found the 100 community. I'll be posting there. Thanks!

Welcome Buteo,
I think alot of people suffer migraines in their late teens and early 20s. I did and all of my sons now do too. So I definitely feel for you there.
In order to read the rest of our groups background stories, just clik our sign on names and you can see most of them.
Yours isn't a long post, lol, I've done some that I actually ran out of alotted characters and had to submit a continuance on the next post, lol. Don't sweat it. It happens.
The big thing to do right now is start a food and fitness planner either here on webmd or fitday.com or livestrong.com or somewhere to get a tracking diary started. That way, you can input your stats and find out how many calories, nutrients and exercise output you should shoot for every day.
Then focus on eating to feed your body, not your moods.
Start by going shopping. NOT TO BUY anything, either. This is pretty crucial at the beginning to research the nutrition labels on the things you are eating now and what you think you may want to try later. This will help educate you to make better choices . Many times , even if an item says fat free or sugar free, or HEALTHY or some such thing, it may not actually be a better choice. There are usually more fats and sugars in low sodium items. More sodium and fats in sugar free items and more sugars and sodium in fat frees. The manufacturers do this to make the item "taste" like the reg. full fat, real sugar, full sodium probucts that you already know and love.
With your hypoglycemia, I definitely suggest checking out the Diabetics communities on the web.
On the reg Diet community here, Brunosbud is a good blogging buddy to hook up with. He seems to have extensive knowledge on the subject of how to eat for your condition.
Some things to focus on.
Eat a rainbow everyday. Raw, fresh , colorful fruits and veggies. Low fat meats(cooked from scratch, not preprocessed are always best)
Cut way down on or don't eat any, WHITE foods. Breads,flour, cereals, grains(rice) , potatoes. White is NOT a color. It is the absence of color on the spectrum and the white foods don't have the nutrient value to properly feed your body healthily vs the calories and additives they have in them. Eat whole grains, brown rices, darker breads in moderation, darker beans, and colored highly nutrient dense potatoes like sweet potatoes and peruvian blues. No, those little red potatoes aren't good either since they have white "flesh".
Drink your water, and LOTS of it. 64 oz of water a day. that's 1/2 a gallon.
and last but not least, blog. Using fellow bloggers to lean on in good times and bad can and will help you reach the goal of your journey.
huggs
Kim

Really, lol, don't bother. That community is pretty stagnant. If you read the posts they are few and far between . This community is active on a daily basis and alot of us had over 100 to lose too, and with divine intervention, landed here, and stayed.
huggs
k

Welcome aboard and good luck on your journey! You've gotten some great advice already. Like Kim says this is a very active for anyone that needs support.

Hi kiddo
I am the old lady of this group 70 years not so old My plan was eating for nutrition first then I tried keeping the nutrition and worked on portions and after you getthe food right work on moveing around a little I know you have some restriction but as you get smaller you will be able to move around better . welcome aboard
Hugs Judy:)

Thanks all!

@Kim: I noticed that the 100 was not active at all.

@ All: Thanks for taking me in here I really need motivation and reminders. I like the idea of eating for my body not my moods. I need to keep that in the front of my mind, especially when I'm in pain. I notice that's when I really slip. Eating gets my mind off the pain temporarily, almost dulling it. Any suggestions on what I can do besides eat (which I know is not the answer, nor good for me) when I'm hurting?

I used to crochet, and have been thinking of picking that up again, though I don't know if my hands can do it, get a pinched nerve in my thumb if I use my hands too much....

....Boy, I sound negative. I'm going to try crocheting again, a little at a time. But any other suggestions will really help.

Thanks again all!

Crafting is a great way to keep the munchies at bay. Anything that keeps your hands busy and your mind occupied on "foods" then give it a shot.
I like to walk. If it's nasty or dark out when I get a munchy attack, I go to walmart , throw a few bags of dog food or charcoal in my cart(totaling 50-80 lbs) and push that cart around the store's outside aisles for an hour. Then I put my stuff away and go back home. That extra weight really packs a punch when you are pushing the cart like you mean business, lol.
Don't forget, your body cant really differentiate between hunger and thirst. If you feel the munchies coming on, drink a full 16 oz bottle of water, wait 20 min for it to hit your stomach and tell your brain. If you still are truly hungry, have something high fiber, crunchy, low sodium and fat, and even high protein, like baby carrots/celery with 1T peanut butter, a hard boiled egg, water packed tuna in a romaine leaf or air popped popcorn. I spray my popcorn with crisco or PAM butter flavor cooking spray (0 cal) to give it some taste, then sprinkle with Morton Lite salt. Make sure to sip water while you are eating too , to help fill you up faster. Eat slowly , at the table, not in front of the tv or while reading . FOCUS on what you are eating whenever you eat. Otherwise, you lose track of how much you are actually consuming.
Never eat out of the box or package of anything. Always give yourself a measured or "eyeballed" portion to make sure you know how much you are trying to eat.
You can quickly eat 3/4 of a bag of chips because you don't actually SEE the contents disappearing from the pkg.
kim

Thanks a lot Kim. Those are great suggestions! It's hard for me to get motivated to walk, but I'm working on it

I'm usually pretty good about my water intake, my meds give me dry mouth so I drink a lot.

Well, I'm going for the night, talk to you guys later.

A warm welcome to you Buteo,

Sorry I'm a bit late, glad you decided to join your little group. You got great advise from all the ladies.

You are right to make small goals at the time. What is you goal for this week. I;m not a walker either but if you read up on all the success on this blog, you will see that those who have the most success are the walkers.

Ho I almost forgot the most important congratulation on the 2 pounds lost.

Great post keep righting.

huggs
helene

Well, my current goal is to get to 290. I didn't think of setting a goal this week, except to loose 1 lb at least. In which case, I don't think I'm doing very well at. I'm currently helping my sister with her kids (she threw her neck out), and am constantly snacking.
Uggh! I was all gung-ho about my weight loss in the begining, but now can't make it through a day with out caving in and eating junk!
And I'm not very diligent about tracking, either. With my eating, mornings start out pretty good, lunch is ok, but then by dinner, I've blown it. I just feel really frustrated right now and disgusted with myself. And these negative feelings make me want to eat! :S
This is such a struggle. I hate depriving myself, and fighting these urges to eat. I know doing the right thing is usually hard, but everything in life is a struggle, and I just feel like I'm adding one more thing to my plate.
If I want to start feeling better, I need to loose weight. But I have no money to join a gym, I'm on foodstamps, and $200 a month for food doesn't go far at all.
Aggh! I just need a little help right now, so any advice you ladies have, please do tell. You can be tough, too. I know I need to face reality, and need to see things in a different light. So Help!!

Thanks a bunch ahead of time!

It's best to take on one thing at a time. If you try to eat less, eat healthier, and exercise every day, it will be overwhelming. Make one change at a time. Pick something that you want to work on first - whether it's walking 20 minutes every day or eating more fruits and vegetables, or trying new healthy foods. Taking it a little at a time is the best way to go, in my opinion

Hi Buteo
I know how hard the struggles are to change our food
The first thing is to stop buying the trigger foods things that make you want to munch ...
I saw a show last night on DR OZ and he had a doctor on there that said wheat products have built in stuff that makes us want to eat more and more of it so if you are overeating on wheat products maybe cutting them out might help.
a good snack might be air popped popcorn it is relativly low in calories and it is a whole grain it is also loaded with fiber.
...
another thing learn to view junk food as poison because it really is ...

get the junk out of the house

learn to shop around the edges of the store thats where the healthiest foods are

Hugs Judy:)

Hi Buteo, I'm finally chiming in. Welcome! It IS a struggle, but nothing worthwhile is easy. You've already gotten great advice so I will just add encouragment. Small changes make huge differences. Even changing what you snack on to veggies, fruit, yogurt or something else low fat yet nutritious will help. I limit myself to one snack a day and for me that's in the afternoon - usually an apple, or salsa with a couple of Kashi stone ground wheat crackers, sometimes yogurt, sometimes light Babybel cheese. I have a strict budget and don't have a gym membership either, but I am one of the walkers on here. My dog Abner and I have logged a lot of miles together. It is my exercise of choice, but doing the weights, etc. is like pulling teeth to get myself to do. Be creative and use whatever is available to do some kind of movement every day - it helps with moods as well as building muscle which burns more calories - a win win!! Best of luck and keep us posted on how you are doing.

Thank you for your encouragement!

I guess I just want to do everything right, and get frustrated when I can't.

So now comes the time to figure out what change I need to make first. My hypoglycemia is still bad, so eating less often is not really an option, but smaller amounts and healthier options are.

I think first is the need for healthier options. Any suggestions? I have to eat approximately every two hours to keep my blood sugar stable, and I usually go longer, so my blood sugar crashes and then I eat something sweet to bring it back up.

Maybe that's what I need to work on first, eating often, but small amounts and healthier options. Hmmm.... well, I appreciate any input, and thanks for all your help!