Posts by efinch

Here are just a few cool things about Charlotte.  It's big enough that they have some happening places, but small enough that they have street music festivals.  It's got great shopping centers and malls for all price ranges.  If you are into NASCAR (which I'm not!), there's a speedway just down the highway.  If you're into football (ditto), they have a team and a stadium.  The skyline, though small, is beautiful at night.  They have an amusement park.  They have some really great museums, restaurants, and shops downtown.  It's not that far from the mountains or the beach, Atlanta, Savannah, Charleston-- a lot of great southern cities with lots of history! 

Good luck in your move, and I hope you love it! 

Here is my salad.  What I do is buy two bags of spinach leaves, one green pepper, one yellow or red pepper, a cucumber, some mushrooms (either white or portabello), grape tomatoes, and small black olives.  I cut or slice everything, then add it to six quart-size bags so that I have them all ready to go.  Put the other ingredients in first, then the spinach leaves--when you put it in a bowl, they all end up on top that way!  When I am ready to have a salad, I just put one bagful into a big bowl, add 1 hard-boiled egg, one light string cheese, sliced, and my viniagrette dressing (1/2 T olive oil, 2 T whatever vinegar you like, and some no-salt seasoning).  This base is 316 calories, or you can have half the bag as a nice side salad with dinner.   

Here is my salad.  What I do is buy two bags of spinach leaves, one green pepper, one yellow or red pepper, a cucumber, some mushrooms (either white or portabello), grape tomatoes, and small black olives.  I cup or slice everything, then add it to six quart-size bags so that I have them all ready to go.  Put the other ingredients in first, then the spinach leaves--when you put it in a bowl, they all end up on top that way!  When I am ready to have a salad, I just put one bagful into a big bowl, add 1 hard-boiled egg, one light string cheese, sliced, and my viniagrette dressing (1/2 T olive oil, 2 T whatever vinegar you like, and some no-salt seasoning).  This base is 316 calories, or you can have half the bag as a nice side salad with dinner.   

I work third shift, too, but only part-time, on the weekends.  I am up from 8am on Friday, until about 6am on Saturday, and I eat over in calories for that day, but any calories I consume after midnight, I then count toward Saturday.  I also got a treadmill, so I don't have to work out at a gym.  I don't know if I would want to go to a 24-hour gym at 3am, you know?

On my "catch-up" sleep days, I just begin eating when I wake up, and usually end up eating less calories on those days, about 1300.  Actually, if you figure out something that works for you, I believe you will have an advantage.  You know how everyone says that sometimes you have to change things up so your body doesn't get used to the same routine all the time?  Well, we automatically have that advantage.  I would just keep logging your calories, and go back and analyze, and see what works best, then stick with it!

Good luck!

I went through the food list looking for healthy alternatives at any restaurant that is listed.  The ones I didn't find here, I went directly to their website for nutritional information.  If they don't list it, I take that as a bad sign and stay away!!!!

Here are some of the items I have tagged as healthier choices:

Ruby Tuesday--salad bar--I didn't see anything else on their menu that is remotely healthy!

McDonald's--(hey, I have two kids, no choice but to go sometimes!) Classic Grilled Chicken sandwich, no mayo, then I add mustard.  I also don't eat fries at all.  This sandwich is 420 calories, so that is plenty!

Wendy's--small chili and plain baked potato (add some of the chili to the potato for more flavor!), or grilled chicken sandwich w/ no mayo, as before.

Mexican Restaurant--shrimp cocktail, or cocktail de camarones (many have this), which is made with v8, salsa, pico de gallo, shrimp and avacado.  I worked out the calories to about 450, which is a lot, but the serving is plenty to split and take home for later if you want, and it's yummy!  Plus, I learned pretty quickly I can't keep away from the chips, so I take 5 and place them on a napkin, and then break them into little pieces and dip each one into the salsa.  By the time I have eaten all the pieces, my food has usually come, and I stop.  If not, then I get a couple more, but my limit is 10.

Also, when you go to a restaurant, ask if they have nutritional information for their foods.  Unfortunately, I think only the fast food restaurants are required to have it available right now, but hopefully we will begin to see other restaurants with it, too!

Hope this helps!  

What I did was to take a few hours and tag my favorite foods.  On the food log search, you can pull up the nutrition information for everything from an apple to a sandwich at a fast food place.  I plan my meals a day in advance, so I am not caught in a situation where I will choose poorly.  Based on my age, height and weight, as well as activity level, I burn 2500 calories a day.  Currently, I eat about 1600 per day, and exercise to burn at least 350 calories 6 days per week.  This is aggressive, and means that I should lose about 2 1/2 lbs. per week.  So far I have lost 10lbs. in two weeks, which means a lot of water weight. 

I have tried low carb, eating "healthy", eating small meals, and just about every other way to lose weight, including a lot of expensive programs.  It all boils down to the math--are you burning more calories than you are consuming.  And if you are, then you will lose weight.  The reason that this site is so wonderful is it makes it easy to log your calorie intake, and know exactly what you are putting into your body.  Just take the time to get it set up specifically for you and that will make it a lot easier!  And remember to drink enough water, and stay positive--there is research that says that stress can cause your body to store fat!

Good luck, and hope this helps!