Posts by sunshine71

Isn't an egg a potential chicken?

Deli meat is soooooo over priced.  I know that it is convenient, but it is outrageously over priced.  Instead of buying turkey or chicken breast from the deli buy fresh chicken breast then grill them or bake them in the oven one night then you can slice them up to put on a sandwich or a wrap throughout the week.  I like fajitas so I dice my chicken, mix it with some fat free or low fat cheese, jalapenos, tomatoes and hot sauce and then put all of that on a fat free or low carb tortilla.  Also, cooked shrimp is cheaper than deli meat and it is loaded with protein and so easy to prepare.  Just buy a bag, keep it in the freezer and take it out (just a serving) the night before and put it in a container in the fridge and the next day it is ready.  I dip mine in cocktail sauce sometimes or put it in my salad.  Hummus is definitely a staple for me as well.  Inexpensive and oh so healthy.  Put it on a tortilla with fresh spinach, diced tomatoes and diced peppers...YUM!!  Canned chili is another cheap and easy food (high in sodium though, but Hormel makes a turkey chili that is low fat, low cals, high protein and high fiber) Those are just a few ideas if you want to try them.

I am so in that place.  Very very frustrating.  I am:

Female

Age 37

5' 6"

132 lbs

Starting weight 187

Lowest weight 127

For the past 6 months I have fluctuated between 130 and 135.  I really want to be 125, but I cannot manage to get there.  If I am overly diligent on eating and exercise for a few weeks I can get down to 129-130, but 1 splurge day and I am back up to 133-135.  UGH!!  What to do?

You are not alone.  So many of us feel the same way.  I spent most of my adult life hovering between 150 and 165.  Then a few years ago I just went crazy and could not stop eating.  I ballooned up to 187 and I was so embarrassed to go out anywhere.  I did not want to go to work or out with my family.  It was awful and I was so ashamed of myself, but I still could not stop eating.  I finally put my foot down and began the process to a healthier me.  I still had my moments along the way (and I actually still have days that I wear baggy clothes and don't want anyone to touch me because I feel so fat and ashamed), but you can stop the cycle that you are in now.  Keep reading CC.  Find some friends here to cheer you on and tell yourself that every great journey begins with the first step (that has become my mantra through this life changing journey).  You can do this

I understand that she is not overweight, but she is unhappy with the way that she looks and feels.  I have never suggested to her that she needs to lose weight.  She has come to that decision on her own and I simply want to encourage her to be healthy.  To eat healthier foods and be more active.  I do not think that she needs to lose weight, but if she wants to lose weight she has about 10-15 pounds of weight that she can lose and still be very healthy.  I do not want to be the type of mom that makes weight an issue, but I do want to encourage a healthier lifestyle.  I do cook very healthy foods for the whole family and try to keep the "junk" food to a minimum in the house.  I also ask everyone (my husband and both of my daughters) every day if they would like to work out with me or join me for a walk or a bike ride and they usually do (at least 1 of them does at any given time).  As far as the weight goes, I understand that she was 12 two years ago, but so were all of her friends and she has gained a lot more than all of them and that is very upsetting to her.  If I was the type of mom that harped on my daughter or made an issue of her weight I would not be sending this post out.  The whole reason that I am asking for help is so that I want to deal with this very delicate issue in the best possible manner so that she feels supported and encouraged without feeling bad about herself.  If I could take all of the weight that she wants to lose and put it on myself I would (and that is saying a lot for a person who has spent the last year working very hard to lose weight), but I obviously cannot do that.  I love her so very very much and I know how she feels and it breaks my heart to watch her struggle with her self esteem.  I just want some advice, not for people to assume that I am the bad guy here.  Thanks for the advice thinthought.  A race for the cure sounds like a great idea!  I will look into it.

I understand your wife completely.  When I gained weight and surpassed my husband's weight (he is 165) I was devastated.  I felt huge and unfeminine.  I want my husband to be bigger than me because I am afraid that if I am larger than him he will not find me attractive.  That was never the case as he always found me feminine and sexy even when I peaked at 185 lbs.  It was my problem, not his.  I now weigh 130 lbs and my husband is still 165 and I feel so much better about myself.  After I lost all of the weight I told him how much I had weighed before and he was very surprised because he never thought of me as overweight, just curvy and sexy.  I explained that that was the reason that I was always force feeding him before and trying to get him to gain weight.  It was wrong, but I know that I still would hate for him to be smaller than me.  How much do you weigh?  How much does your wife weigh?

Like I said, he said that everyone is different.  Some people start in a week and some start in 6 weeks.  Also I imagine that many people are not completely honest with their doctor about when they start exercising again.  So I wanted to hear real stories.  I am also quite nervous about the process so I was hoping to hear from people who have been through it and what their experience was with diet/exercising.  I will, of course, do only what my body tells me to do and I would never put my health of a really expensive surgery at risk to exercise.  I just was hoping to hear some advice about what to expect.

Same thing with the Chai Latte.  It is loaded with calories.  Why can't they make it with just fresh tea, your milk of choice and your sweetener of choice?  This way you could use nonfat milk and equal and it would be low cal?  Does anyone know if you can ask for it that way or is it a pre-made thing?

It is a lifestyle, not a fix.  If you are unhappy doing it the way that you are doing it, then change your method.  It is different for everyone.  It took me 25 years of watching my weight to finally figure out the best way for me.  The lifestyle, not the diet, that I could live with for the next 50 years.  If you want to go out tonight then go.  Try another method tomorrow.  Or, better yet, go for a brisk walk and burn off some of those calories and then go out and have fun.  Just make better choices.  This is about being happy and healthy , not skinny and miserable.  Good luck and let me know how it goes and feel free to email me if you need advice or just someone to rant at

I have always had problems with constipation.  As I have gotten older it has gotten worse.  That was the initial reason for my healthy lifestyle change.  Eating healthier has helped somewhat (I used to go about once every 10-14 days, not I go about once or twice a week).  Obviously I still have a problem.  I went to my gastro doc last week and she told me to take Miralax every day.  It is intended to be taken over a long term period, unlike other laxatives.  I started yesterday so I cannot say that it will work, but my doc was very adament that this was the solution.

I am in the EXACT same boat.  I am fluctuating between 130 and 134.  I am 5' 6" medium build with decent muscle tone.  I would like to get down to 125, but I cannot seem to break thru to the 120's no matter what I do.  I have tried zig zagging, eating more, working out more, working out less and no luck.  I usually shoot for a deficit of 500-600 cals a day and still cannot get below this weight.  I have to keep forcing myself not to do something stupid like starve myself, take pills or over-exercise.  I get about a 50/30/20 (carbs/protein/fat) a day (I am really OCD about this).  I eat extremely healthy all the time.  In 9 months I have only "cheated" once.  I feel so frustrated because I am doing everything "right", but I cannot shed these last few pounds.