Posts by hepburn5

I'm the same way.  I have a few standard meals that I reuse because I like them and because I know what the calories, etc. are.  What I have started to do is enter "recipes" for my favorite meals like tuna salad or a bagel sandwich.  Then, I tag the recipe and it's really easy to add for meals.

It gives you a thumbs down when you gain weight...  Unfortunately, I've seen it...

Just another manic Monday...

I must make a confession.  I ate three non-diet meals this weekend due to politeness.  Yes, I'm blaming my 2 lb. weight gain since Thursday on politeness.  Well, I know it's really 80% my will power and 20% politeness, but still. 

I spent the weekend with my boyfriend's family and couldn't bring myself to make my own food when they were cooking and putting a plate in front of me.  I ate a veggie burrito (with sinful cheese sauce), two hot dogs, and last night- deep fried fish from a recent fishing trip.

This morning, my scale says 140.  I was at 138 on Thursday, and now I'm at 140... from three "bad" meals...  I'm desperately hoping that a lot of this weight is from grease and sodium that my body isn't used to and that by Thursday (or at least next Monday) I will be back to 138.

Today's Challenge(s): Cinco de Mayo at work... I organized it and rounded up all the food, and I won't be able to eat any of it.  Boo.  Plus it's someone's birthday (therefore- CAKE).  PLUS we are having friends over for dinner who are picky and don't like veggies, salad or fish.  I made shredded BBQ chicken for sandwiches and bought corn on the cobb.  I will probably make tuna salad for myself...  Big challenges right now, people.  I feel like I'm losing my momentum... I don't want to ruin all my hard work!  This has been the best, most effective diet and excersize plan I've ever done... Please don't let me backslide!!!

Also- FYI: Almost all flavors of Pop Tarts have gelatin (I've only found one that doesn't- It's an apple flavor one without icing), many candies (fyi- junior mints do, but not york peppermint patties. yay!), many vitamins, and a whole bunch of other things you wouldn't imagine... ALWAY CHECK LABELS!

Wow- this is such a great topic!  This stuff is SO motivating!  One question, though- what's "chub rub?"

Things that I want to do after I lose weight:

1. Have my pick of wedding dresses without worrying about hiding my fat.

2. Not feeling like crap when I see old photos of me from when I was thin.

3. Not feeling jealous of thin celebrities.

4. Feeling confident naked... And not wanting to hide under the covers when I have sex... Being comfortable "on top."

5. Feeling comfortable in my clothes- not restricted.

6. Not hating every photo of me because of my double chin and fat arms.

7. Being able to fit into all my beautiful dresses from college.

There are also those 100 calorie packs of snack foods like doritos and sun chips.

One of my favorite savory snacks (I don't have a sweet tooth at all, so I'm all about the savory snacks) is celery with dip.  I got a fat free dill dip that only has 30 calories in 2 whole tablespoons.  I pack about two stalks of celery and 2 tablespoons of this dip in my lunch every day.  It feels like you're eating a lot but you're only eating about 35 calories!!

Hard boiled eggs are another favorite...

Oh- and cheese sticks.  String cheese sticks are about 80 calories each.

Light Laughing Cow cheese with a few crackers

Baby carrots with salt and pepper (carrots by themselves are too sweet for me)

Pickles

POPCORN.  My number one diet snack tip is Pop Secret 94% fat free butter flavored popcorn.  A whole bag of this stuff (which is quite delicious) is only 220 Calories!  I divide the bag in half and use it for snacks for two days.  Half a bag of popcorn is a lot of food, and it's satisfying to eat and crunch!

Ditto.  I try to do stuff every day.  Plus, last year and this year I initiated an internal e-mail campaign at my company. 

Good Morning, peeps!

Current Weight: 140 lbs.  I've lost 2 lbs. since last Monday.  I'm glad, but I'm anxious for more results.  My weight always bounces around between 140 and 146, so I can't wait to get to something really exciting like 135...

I had a good weekend.  Saturdays are my day off (like a lot of you) so I wasn't as strict about calories and I didn't excersize, but I'm okay with that.  I can't do this stuff EVERY day and having one day off a week helps me stay sane and helps me not cheat on the other days.  Either way, I wasn't that bad because I had a very low-cal omelet for breakfast (soooooo delicious- fat free cheese, mushrooms and veggie sausage- Oh my!) and a salad for lunch.  Sunday I returned to careful counting and excersize.

Challenge of the Week: There's a baseball themed lunch at work tomorrow and there is going to be a LOT of temptation- hot dogs, potato salad, cole slaw, chips...  I'm bringing my own lunch, but it's going to suck and I'm going to be jealous of everyone else's deliciousness.

Goal of the week: Add 10 extra minutes of excersize to my routine.  Now that I get off work at 4, the extra time should make my excersize schedule even easier to manage.

This group ROCKS.  It totally keeps me motivated!  Keep up the good work, people!

Yaaaay!  I'm so proud of everyone!  I know it's not just me when I say that this group is SUCH a great motivator!  I love having support on here and posting goals (that makes me want to meet them).  I did not weigh myself today because I prefer to weigh-in once a week instead, but I feel confident that I'm doing well.  I'm really keeping track of my calories and planning ahead and I am making sure to excersize regularly.  My new addition to "the plan" is to change my work hours from 8-5 to 7-4.  I just got this approved by my supervisor this morning and I think it is going to really help me with my health goals.  The way I see it, I'll kind of be gaining an extra hour in the day because right now I sleep that extra morning hour, but if I get off work early, I'll have a whole extra hour to get my excersize in before I need to start fixing dinner and whatnot.  Wish me luck on the experiement- it starts on Monday.

Triumph of the Day: I went to a Mexican restaurant for lunch and DID NOT eat chips before my meal... and I LOVE chips and salsa.

Triumph of the Week: I've really been craving something from KFC, so I planned a day that I would do it, budgeted my calories without starving myself, and excersized to make up the difference.  I was able to eat what I wanted while still meeting my goals!

Goals between Now and Monday: Make it through the weekend without breaking my stride!

Original Post by elairda:

Last night i ate a 1/2 quart of ice cream and about 1 dozen cookies. Of course then I couldn't sleep all night. Do I need to get locks for my cupboards that only activate when the sun goes down?

Other issue I have been facing lately: underestimating calories.  

These are tough-ies.  First of all, I also LOVE Buffy the Vampire Slayer.  Well, I loved it until the plot with Dawn, who I couldn't stand...  Anyway...

The first piece of advice I would give is GET RID OF IT.  If it's not on your approved foods list, don't keep it in the house.  Your family members should understand and it's worth the price for them to go to dairy queen without you instead of having ice cream in the house tempting you at night.  My second piece of advice is to try replacing some of the foods you crave with better alternatives.  Trader Joe's has a great chocolate flavored yogurt that I used to alleviate my sweet cravings.  Plus, if you have to open a new portion every time, you will be more likely to stop rather than eating out of a bottomless tub.  Fat free popcorn is another great late-night snack.  A whole bag of Pop Secret 94% fat free popcorn has 220 calories.  So- if you late night "binged" on that, you wouldn't be hurting yourself too much.

As for the underestimating calories, I think PLANNING is the key.  Go on CC and check the calorie count of everything before you eat it, make it, etc.  Pack and plan your meals around what is appropriate.  I always check out low calorie options online before going to ANY restaurant or fast food chain.  That helps me know ahead of time, which menu items are acceptable under my daily intake.

Thats all I've got!  Will power!  You can do it!

Gooooooooood Morning!

Weigh-in #1: Monday, April 14

142 lbs.

Today's Plan

I pre-packed my breakfast, lunch and snacks for my day at work.  I will have 1200 "in" calories and I will get on my elliptical for one hour and do 10-20 minutes of weight training.

Today's Challenges

I hurt my knee recently and it's a little "iffy" whether or not I'll be able to do the elliptical for an hour.  Also- my coworkers go out to eat all the time and it's hard to turn down the invitation.  These challenges will probably be the same every day... *sigh* Hopefully, my knee will someday recover and I won't be so tempted to eat out with my friends.

Original Post by elairda:

Ok Sounds good. I am 5'8'' and a 23yr old female, living with my really hyper-metabolized boyfriend. So I need to seek motivation outside of my apartment (and snacks.. all we have is english toffee hagen daz. yum).  Two weigh ins a week. Since I have no scale in my apt., it is extra motivation to go to the gym. (But I can cheat today, since I had to go to the Dr. and she weighed me). I

CW: 139

GW: 125.... but that is for the long run...

in the short term: 130 would be heaven.

 I have the SAME PROBLEM with my boyfriend.  He can take the stairs instead of the elevator for a week and lose 10 lbs!  He can eat two big macs at a time!  He has a sweet tooth the size of Montana!  Hes's SUPER METABOLISM.  He also does NOT like to eat vegetables, so that holds me back a bit too.  I've decided to let him fend for himself food-wise while I focus on losing weight.

Hmmm... Vinegar sounds like a great idea.  I ADORE vinegar, but never thought about using it for veggies like that.  I may try that sometime, but it seems like salting my veggie-snack isn't that bad.  Thanks for your help peeps.