Posts by didoslament

String cheese, nuts, plain yogurt, cottage cheese...

• Maki Yaki on Chapman--lots of choices
• Del Taco bean and cheese burrito
• Mimi's Cafe citrus salmon salad (don't get a muffin with it!)
• Marie Callendar's small apple, gorgonzola, walnut salad with chicken
• If you are going to splurge, go to Pinot Provence across from South Coast Plaza with a friend and split an entree
• In fact, most places serve such big portions, that the split with a fried is a good idea

What would work for me would be any one of the following:

• Peanut butter sandwich
• Cottage cheese
• Yogurt
• String cheese

...along with one of those free pears or apples

As others have suggested, do ask a doctor or nutritionist.

Personally, I do better with oatmeal and plain yogurt than any dry or hot cereal with milk. Other combinations that work for me are an egg and toast or something like the peanut butter on toast mentioned above

It has helped me to be very careful with carbs--not Atkins or any of those diets, but:

• I don't eat carbs "all by themselves" even as a snack--I just get too hungry
• I eat protein and/or a little fat with carbs. So good combinations are:
  • Oatmeal and plain yogurt
  • Lean meat with salad-type veggies and/or fresh fruit
• For fast snacks where I can only grab one thing, I might have
  • Plain yogurt
  • Cottage cheese
  • String cheese
  • Nuts
• When I have carbs as part of a meal,
  • I have small portions of things like bread, potatoes, rice, or pasta (e.g., 1/2 cup of rice or pasta)
  • I have non-fruit desserts rarely, and then only with a meal that has had a serving of protein
• I eat small meals about every 3-4 hours.
• I drink water, tea, and Diet Coke.
• I work out almost every day (30 min of resistance training (different muscle groups each day for 3 days so I don't work the same group more than once in 3 days) and 45 minutes of cardio). I eat a small meal about 1/2 hour before and another small meal about 1/2 hour after.
• If I binge (or just eat straight carbs and get that "starving" feeling), I know I will feel better if I eat something with protein, and I generally do that.
• It's still slow--I have lost 45 lbs in 15 months (227 down to 181 or so) and seem to be on a plateau right now.

I hope that helps. Good luck!

I don't have this myself, but I found a link that says that sometimes affects bones and joints: http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/ sarc/sar_whatis.html

It might help to look at what the exercise recommendations are for people with other conditions that have joint pain, such as arthritis: http://www.arthritis.org/exercise-intro.php

Another thing that might help would be to look for a personal trainer who deals with people with joint pain and pay for a few sessions to get some one-on-one coaching.

I hope that helps (at least it will bump this up in the forum so that perhaps someone more knowledgable will chime in).

Yes it is possible to lose weight again (I unfortunately have too much experience doing that!).

This time around, I am trying to be more thoughtful about how I go about it. The thing that has helped me the most, which I have read in several posts on this site, is not to let a minor slip become a major binge and derail me. These days, I acknowledge a poor choice, and get back to healthy eating.

Hope that helps. Good luck!

Hi Gabita,

My condolences on your shortages. Here's how I do oatmeal with yogurt:

• Cook the yogurt with less water than the recipe asks for. For example, if you are starting with 1/2 cup of dry oatmeal, instead of adding 1 cup of water, add 3/4 cup of water or a little less.
• It might help to soak the oatmeal in the water for a minute or 2 before cooking.
• Cook the oatmeal--it will be thicker than usual.
• Add the yogurt. I like plain yogurt best, but it also works with fruit-flavored yogurt

Hope that helps!

Hi--Sometimes it helps to think of those who have no trouble controlling their weight as clueless in that respect and simply don't engage in discussion on the topic of eating or weight loss.

I view it as being similar to the dreaded horrible Christmas gift from a dear friend or relative. You know, the scarf that is a color that you wouldn't be caught dead wearing. So what do you do? You say thank you, but you don't ever wear it, and you don't engage in a discussion of color sense.

Hope that helps. Good luck, and I hope you enjoyed the mints!

Free food can be tough. Here's how I cope:

• I keep a toothbrush and toothpaste at work so that I can brush my teeth when I have decided I'm through eating--helps to avoid having "just one more bite" of something.
• I keep on walking, where possible, when I'm near the free food
• If it's a catered, buffet lunch and I am expected to participate (a "working lunch"), I make sure not to arrive too hungry and try to make good choices and STOP when I have had what I planned to eat.
• If it's "my turn" to bring something in, it's likely to be a fruit or veggie platter
• Finally, just because it's free doesn't mean I want or need it--if someone were offering "free drinks" at 10 am at the office, I probably wouldn't have one--why should I have "free food" just because it's there?

Hope that helps. Good luck in your efforts--I have been at my current assignment, which has a lot of free food, for the last 15 months and have lost 45 lbs, so it is possible.

Here's how I solved the snooze alarm "problem":

• I have 2 alarm clocks. One is near my bed and set for about 20 minutes before I get "have to" get up. The other is across the room and can't be snoozed without getting out of bed and is set for the time I "have to" get up.
• When the 1st alarm goes off, I snooze it (I often don't even remember doing so).
• But by the time the 2nd alarm goes off, I'm awake enough to realize that I  have to get out of bed to snooze it, so I get up and shut it (and the other alarm) off.

Works for me....

Hi singing_girl--I have a more checkered history. I am 55, 5'5" and have been intermittently overweight since 10--I have lost and regained (mostly gained, and mostly gained more than I lost).

I got up to 260 at the highest when I was in my 30s, down to 180s, back up to 240, down to 180s and last year up to 227.

This time, I'm trying to do it for keeps. I am down to 183 again, and am trying to reduce to healthy weight. This is a great site for logging food and activity and picking up tips.

And yes, it is wierd. I can go from feeling heavy and gross to lighter than air (attitude makes such a difference) in a heartbeat. I still feel fatter than I am, and sometimes startle myself when I unexpectedly catch sight of my reflection. I recently saw a picture of myself and was surprised at how much thinner I looked.

It always takes a while for my mental image to catch up to reality (it worked the same way when I was gaining weight--I would be surprised at how fat I had become). I think this is one reason why a lot of people, myself included, need to take measurements periodically to remind ourselves of our progress.

Good luck on your jouney, and feel free to email me if you want to talk about anything.

Many of the suggestions above, plus eating more frequent, smaller, balanced meals.

Perhaps you should eat first? I used to get bad headaches when I worked out before breakfast.

You might want to see a doctor, too, especially if it continues or gets worse.

Warning--probably TMI!!!!

I have a long commute and work out in the morning after driving to a gym near work. The night before, I put my clean clothes (usually slacks, a top and a blazer) for work in on a hanger that has 2 clips for slacks (I clip the slacks on, put the top over that and the blazer over the top. I hang them in my car ready to go in the morning.

In the morning, I put on my workout clothes and head out.

After my workout when I am soaking wet, I peel off the wet clothes, take the clean work clothes off the hanger (and hang them on a hook in my locker) and put the dirty wet clothes on the hanger--I clip the workout slacks, my underwear and my workout towels to the hanger and put the top over them. After showering and dressing, I go out to my car and hang the hanger with the wet, dirty clothes on a hook behind the driver's seat. It just looks like clothes hanging there. I lay my robe (usually damp) and bath towel (always wet) on the back seat.

Then I drive to work and park underground. I am often there for 10 or more hours. Eventually I go home. Depending on the temperature and humidity, the workout clothes, etc. may or may not be dry. If anything is damp, I hang it on separate hooks in my bedroom to dry.

They can then be put into the hamper (or worn again for those who don't share skinny_kitty's views).

--edited to add:

On weekends, I just come home soaking wet and hang the clothes on the hooks in my room (or start a load of laundry).