Posts by princess_abigail

Original Post by gi-jane:

1400-1500 cals is the perfect level for you to lose a steady 1 - 2lbs a week. Because it's not too low you should be able to go for quite a long time before you experience a plateau, if at all. It's only people that have been dieting for months on end or do very restrictive crash diets that hit problems normally. (The crash dieters always get advised to 'eat more' because they're just relying on starvation to lose weight... and that isn't healthy or effective long-term)

To keep your metabolism lively keep up with the exercise, get plenty of fluids and split your food into regular light meals and healthy snacks. And I would strongly recommend that every two or three weeks you have a 'more food than normal' day... just 1900 cals or so... to a) keep you sane and b) prevent your body getting too used to the same amount of food. Have fun and keep smiling.

gi-jane you really do post wonderful and informative replies!

for many years I ate a "pescatarian" diet - "vegetarian" with the occasional fish or dairy, and I've recently gone back to that way of eating, and I agree with another poster who said that eating "vegetarian" helps to delete fast food as an option. Those gross watery little salads do nothing to satisfy! I do admit that every once in a while I get a hankerin' for a mexican pizza (with bean sub for meat) and I think it's fine as long as I eat a balanced healthy diet on a regular basis, which I mostly do. Calorie counting has also helped me to make better choices, sometimes I make it like an internal game, I have so much space in the bucket, now how am I going to fill that bucket (the bucket being my calorie allotment for the day)?... I'm not a complete stickler and I don't let calorie counting interfere with my life anymore, it's very casual and comfortable now that I've been doing it for a few months and I'm very close to my goal weight. Yay!

In conclusion, fast food bad, yucky, fake food... but if you can't avoid it every once in a while, well hey, just try to make the best choices you can and eat a regular healthy diet... nothing too innovative, I'm just repeating all the good advice I've read on this site basically!

reading your post just now reminded me of that feeling and provided some extra motivation that I needed. thanks for posting!

geminik88  your before and after pics - unbelievable! Thank you for posting them because I can assure you that you are motivating a whole lot of people on this site, including me! It's something to the effect of, "Look what she did, now I know it's possible and now I am even more motivated to do it!!"

I love looking at before and after pics too and I also could do it all day, it's so interesting to witness everyone's unique journeys and know that you're not alone in this. Everyone's before and after pics are really great and inspirational!!

I'm curious about this too, not because I find it difficult to drink unsweetened green tea, I love it actually, but because I drink several cups of decaffeinated green day a day and I read somewhere the drinking too much tea can interfere with iron absorption. I'm wondering if anyone has any feedback about green tea and health.

I just want a pair of jeans that fits and looks slimming and some tops that I can wear without feeling like my tummy is protruding. Oh... actually, if we're talking splurge here, I want to be able to wear a bathing suit in public!!

this is a really touchy subject, I don't want to say the wrong things... I have no idea why people do this but love is about supporting each other and being a team, not knocking each other. Of course no one's perfect and we all can get negative or in bad moods sometimes, but if this is a consistent thing... well, I dunno, that's just messed up.

your before and after pics are inspirational, you look awesome!!

Yea, maybe they didn't want to offend you or make you feel weird - I'm sure you look great!

Original Post by sha__sha:

I have always been a comft eater - but I also just love food. The taste, sensation - everything.

I have recently lost the bulk of my weight and now am working steadily towards my goal. (I went from 18 stones to 12 stones - a UK size 22 to a UK size 14 - from December 07 to now.) I need to loose another stone (14 pounds) to be in my ideal BMI area for my height 5'5.

The way I did it was to retrain my mind and my body. I eat CONSTANTLY. I have chopped up cucumber, cherry tomatoes, radishes, pickled betroot and silverskin onions on my desk at work. I pick at these all day rather than a set breakfast and lunch. This is good for my metabolism but also makes me feel like Im never going hungry (obviously eat this wirthin reason also).

I also retrained my mind in terms of thinking about food. I always had this attitude that it was just one cake so it didnt matter - but then just one like everyday is too many if you want to reduce your weight. Thinking that everything you eat has both good and bad effects on your body helps you rationalise your eating.

I really hope this helps! And im new too!! If you want any more advice etc add me!!! and we can help each other!

That is awesome!

I love to eat too, since I've started cc I still eat plenty and I eat mostly the same stuff I was eating before, just less of it. All I do is count my calories, I sign in and log every single thing I eat every single day, for me that is enough motivation for now. Seeing those numbers on my computer screen and knowing that going over those numbers means slowing down my goal has been an amazing motivation for me! When I want that one extra thing, I just stop. Good luck to you, everybody has some great suggestions here!

I think that a lot of us here on this site are over-eaters, far from bulimic. We count calories because if we didn't, we'd overeat. A lot of us are overweight. (I'm not speaking for everyone of course).

For someone who is not overweight and who has suffered from an eating disorder, I don't think that counting calories is necessary or healthy. I'm only a psych minor so I'm not a professional, but common sense tells me that you should eat healthy meals and snacks and don't count or try to lose. You're tall, so you can hold a few more pounds, also, you're very young, it's normal to not be as thin as you were when you were 18 once you get into your 20's. NO ONE is as thin as they were when they were 18 once they grow up (well, not no one, but most), and that's ok, that's healthy. Just be healthy and be happy... I'm not sure what else to say, I know it's not that simple... =)

I just started tracking calories a week ago, so far I actually really like it. It gives me a sense of control and a more accurate picture of what I'm eating. I think that with time I will get better at estimating, but I will continue to track for as long as I need to. I'm a meticulous person by nature so this suits me, and before starting this I didn't pay a lot of attention to how much I ate, so I ate too much.

I carry my laptop around with me most days (grad student, almost always on campus) When I don't have my laptop, I send myself a text message on my cellphone of what I'm eating and then log in later on when I get home, check my text messages, and log what I ate! It's a quick easy system for me. If I didn't want to text, I'd probably just jot it down on a scrap of paper in my purse then log in at the end of the day and chart it all up.

Hi, I started last week and already I'm totally hooked. This site is such a helpful tool and catalyst for a lot of life changes. I love reading the forums when I need some motivation and support.

Original Post by samurailynn:

I think that a lot of people like to have someone to share their guilty pleasures with. So, when someone brings sweets to the office and you say that you're dieting, a lot of people will say things like "oh, well this is diet cake". I find that instead of telling people I'm dieting, it works better to just say "no, thank you" or "oh, I just ate so I'm too full right now". If you're polite, it helps. I think that people also feel offended if you say no because you're dieting, because then they feel like maybe they shouldn't be eating it either. As far as eating out goes, I think suggesting a place is a good idea. Or maybe suggest that everyone brings their lunch to a local park or someplace nearby to eat together instead of eating at a restaurant.

That is awesome, thank you so much for the reply, it makes good sense and is really helpful to me.

I'm about 5"5 and 142 also. I weighed about 125 when I was your age and wore a size 6 in juniors. Now I can sometimes fit into the largest juniors sizes, I guess it's just about brand and about body shape. I have to wear a larger jean size because I cant close the buttons over my stomach =( .... I'm hoping to get down to 130 or even 135 so that I can wear the clothes in my closet that are just ever too tight for me right now. I guess I wear a 6 in womens sizes right now from some stores.

In conclusion, if you can fit into a size 7/8 in juniors, you are probably thin and fine! =)