Lol Bobby! Keep trying darlin! Eileen, 32 miles is impressive. I wish we had some of your weather right now... Good job Pam! 4.5 pounds that was fast! I think I am only down 6 pounds since the beginning of the year. But I am way healthier and my measurements are showing it. I've lost 2 inches off my waist. My pics from the beginning sickened me, but now my tummy is so much flatter! Great job FOAS (thanks Pam!) keep us informed - hope you get the exercise clearance - what a difference it makes in how you feel. Deanna, how did you survive that day? Sometimes, I think you just have to go with it and do your best. And not beat yourself up over stuff. I read recently that you should eat "clean" 80% of the time at first and the other 20% let yourself eat waht you are craving - so you don't feel deprived. There are so many darn theories out there, it confuses me. "Eat more! If you don't your metabolism slows down in starvation mode..." "The only way to lose weight is with a calorie deficit - you're eating too many calories and not working out enough!" "You're working out TOO hard - you need to lighten up a bit and let your body repair!" "All you need to do is WALK - just move." "You have to have variety in your activities - otherwise your body adapts and plateaus..." "Get all the junk food out of your house - no more junk!" "Allow yourself cheats or you will binge" sheesh. No wonder nobody can lose weight. Who was it that posted the food journal on the Daily Plate? I started using it and am curious to see if I had been eating too many calories ...or if my proportions were off (protein-carbs-fats). It is a cool site and I am enjoying entering things in and keeping track. At least it makes me more aware. I can't eat a handful of almonds 6 times a day - even if they are good for me - lol. Stacy

I just found this forum, even though, I've been using Gardenweb for a few years. A typical menu for me is lowfat, low calorie, and, for me,low in sugar and salt (I have salt-sensitive hypertension and a family history of diabetes.) For breakfast I usually eat microwavable oatmeal . My favorite variety is apples and cinnamon, or any flavor that is low fat and low calorie, as well as low in sugar. I eat a six ounce cup of active culture yogurt along with this. Depending on what fruit is in season, I also have watermelon, canteloupe, grapefruit, orange, figs, mangno,, papaya, honeydew melon, or, if I have fresh tomatoes from our garden, I eat them. I usually limit myself to one of the foregoing. Also, I have eaten southern field peas and brown rice (wholegrain), or some other leftover from the day before, scrambled egg on wholegrain bread, and usually drink ice water, a cup of gatorade or powerade, diluted l:l, green tea, or green and white tea blend. I really like the latter drink best, but sometimes settle for the former drinks. For snacks, I eat fresh tomatoes, blueberries, or other berries, cherries, papaya, mango, watermelon, or other melons, or bananas, or the yogurt and try to drink mainly ice water or a l:l dilution of powerade or gatorade. For lunch, I usually have stringbeans, or whatever fresh vegetable is in season, along with wholegrain brown rice, or a main green salad, such as McDonald's Asian Salad. I rarely drink soft drinks, as they do not agree with me. I drink decaf or caf sweet regular tea a little more than I drink soft drinks, but only unsweetened, or l:l dilution of unsweetened and sweetened. Also, if I drink regular tea, I always try to drink a glass of ice water for every glass of iced tea I drink, as the regular tea is a diuretic. I am usually in town in the afternoon, and for a snack, I try to drink iced water with lemon, mainly, or the l:l dilution of powerade or gatorade, along with either low calorie, low fat, low sugar snacks from the grocery store, such as fruit in season, or rice or other wholegrain cakes, or McDonalds yogurt parfait, or baked apple pie. For dinner or supper, as I called it when I was growing up, I usually have fruit or fresh vegetables in season, or a bought side salad, along with a McDonald's grilled chicken patty, bought on the side alone. I usually eat the grilled chicken at home on wholegrain bread. If I am not in town, I use wholegrain pasta, bought chunky mushroom pasta sauce, a combination of turkey and 4% fat lean ground round to make spaghetti, or some other pasta dish. I usually go to bed by at least 9:00 p.m. as I try to get up at least by 5:00 a.m., so I only eat a tomato, if in season and fresh from our garden, low fat, low calorie yogurt, a Mcdonald's yogurt parfait, or in-season fruit, or a banana if I had an early dinner or supper, am hungry, and only if I can eat it one or two hours before bedtime. I try to stay hydrated, as I work outside in our family garden, along with my 96 year-old mother, for one to five hours every morning I am able. What I try to do is eat most of my calories and complex carbohydrates for breakfast, eat a moderate lunch, and a small dinner or supper, with two small snacks. I am a great believer in reading nutrition labels in the grocery store, primarily the calorie count. I also try to eat no more or less than than the serving portion listed on the labels. I lose approximately two to four pounds a week on this regimen. Hope that this helps.

Good job trekaren....I just finished my exercise for the day and am sitting here cooling off....I forgot to weigh this morning but I feel like I might be down some...I ate good yesterday...seems like I ate a lot last night but it was all low fat and low cal....We are having fish for dinner tonight...this time next week I can exercise and then crawl into the hot tub to ease the aches and pains...they are finishing up the deck tomorrow and the tub is being delivered and hooked up Thurs... I had the results of a test from the doctor and he says I am low in vitamin D and wants me to start right away...Have an appointment on Mon so we will see what he has to say.... You guys eat good and plan out your weekend so you can stan on plan...

What a timely thread! You know, I've been scaling back my time here on the forum because of my need to lose weight. I used to check in here at least 4 times a day, especially if working. Well, I was isnpired to try many of the recipes on here... some of them not so healthy. Now I check in about once every 3 days or so. It took a lot of self control! Sadly, I did have to curb my passion for baking in an effort to lose weight. I haven't made any sweet treats in about two months... I think... I can't even remember the last time I baked something. I've wanted to several times, but had to resist the temtation. My stand mixer is now growing a layer of dust... he gives me the evil eye every time I walk by, feeling neglected I'm sure. I've also been drinking only water at work and home (maybe an occasional glass of 1 percent milk, but nothing sweet). I've been forcing myself to exercise 3 times a week for 45 minutes (on the Gazelle glider or riding a bike that a co-worker gave me). I've gone from going to fast food restaurants while working 3 times a week to not at all. If I'm at work and didn't have time to pack a lunch, I'll run out to my car and get a granola bar (I keep a stash under the seat). I obviously need to do more because the scale isn't moving. The Jack Daniels sampler platter at TGI Fridays has been calling my name for a while now, but I've been good about resisting lately. I LOVE it, and like to get it once a month. Haven't had it for a month or so now. The last time I got it, I split it up into two meals and only ate half at at time. That's a tip I've learned on this forum and have been using it quite a bit lately. A couple days ago, I was cleaning out some closets and got hungry. I was tired from the physical work, and it was emotionally draining to see the memories of the past as I was cleaning. I wasn't really hungry, but I still wanted to eat. I drove to Long John Silvers to place a big order to take back home and feast on. While I was waiting in line to order, I realized that I was getting this food because I was upset or frustrated and not because I needed it! I scolded myself saying, "Bobby, you just spent 10 minutes sewing a button back on your pants that you've popped off with your gut, and you're in line at Long John Silvers! Something is wrong with that!" I got back in my car without ordering, went home and made a salad with some boneless skinless chicken pieces on top. OK... Most of my response hasn't been about cooking, so let me get on topic for a second! I did try a new thing in the kitchen that helped me with overeating. I deciced I wanted to try to make some homemade peanut sauce and fried tofu. I bought all the ingredients (incluidng peanut oil and rice vinegar which I'd never used before). Well, I don't love tofu so I will never over eat it! The peanut sauce was a little bland, so I added a lot of red pepper and made it really spicy. I'm not big on spicy foods, but I liked the sauce spicy! I just coudn't eat a lot of it. I've also read that spicy foods boots the metabolism, so double bonus. Can't handle a lot of it at a time, and it boost metabolism! It could be a good thing to start a support group here for people who want to lose weight... With the great collection of people here, I'm sure we'd encourage each other.