Posts by mialondon

Original Post by spookychick:

kick the sweet-tooth habit. no one needs superflurous sugar. sweeten cereal with honey - yogurt with fruit - and drink, honey or not at all.

 

 

 But honey is very high calories - pretty much as high as sugar!  The reason people prefer splenda etc, is that it is calorie free (or virtually calorie free)

Personally I think artificial sweeteners are fine, great even, and if you like them you should definitely have them. 

Why does everyone always think bagels are so fattening?  I just checked the Brueggers website - you can have a plain bagel for 320 cals or a ww bagel for 390 cals.  

Add 50 cals of low fat cream cheese (a decent but not massive amount) and that's a whole eating-out meal for 370 cals (or 440 cals for whole wheat) -- not bad i think !!!

Hey Arymiis, I lost about 40 lbs by taking every weekend (both saturday and sunday) plus Friday evenings as "free days".  I was pretty restrictive the rest of the week (1200 cals/day plus exercise) and I tried not to go too too crazy on the weekend but it definitely worked for me. 

I think if I didnt do it that way I'd burn out from just being too disciplined.  Also, I think it's very hard to count calories when you out socializing, going to pubs and restaurants (especially non-chain restuarants)

good luck!

If it helps, a cup is equal to half of a pint (a standard measurement used in the UK for milk and beer).  A pint is equal to 568 mili-liters (mls) so a cup has 284 mls.  

also there are two cups in a pint, and 4 cups in a quart, and 16 cups in a gallon. 

In America at least you can get standard 1 cup and 2 cup (i.e. 1 pint) measuring cups which help alot.  But as people have mentioned earlier, they are only really accurate for liquid measurements.  If you are measuring cereal it's best to weigh it.  After you've weighed, for example 50 grams of oatmeal/porridge a few times you can see how much that general fills in a cup and then use the cup to measure it. 

I make it on the stove (the hob in the UK) - i think it comes out with a much nicer consistency:

Just put 1/2 cup oats, 1/2 cup skim milk, 3/4 cup water in saucepan and heat on a low-medium heat for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.  It's really easy and it comes out with a great, creamy consistency.   You can add a bit more/less water to make the perfect consistency for you.

Oh and of course you can swap the milk for more water to cut calories, but I like to think the milk has some protein so it keeps me fuller for longer... !

try canned beans - half a can of red kidneys has only 105 cals, add a bit of salsa, a spoonful of fat free greek yogurt, some lettuce and seasoning for about 150 cals - it satisfies a mexican craving - makes me less likely to order a massive burrito with guac or nachos

also 100 packs of micro popcorn and soup - I go for pre-prepared but making your own works too. 

oh and i also think wholegrain pasta can be really filling - you get quite a bit for  not so many calories.  i go for spelt or kamut or wholewheat at a push.

I definetly my problem too - I am generally very good from Monday - Friday lunchtime with both food and exercise, and then from Friday evening onwards I go crazy.

Once solution is to slightly lower your caloric intake for the rest of the week, so you can be a bit more generous on the weekends:  for example if you lose weight at say 1800 cals/day then you could have 1200 per day/Monday - Thursday and then an average of 2,600 per day/Friday-Sunday.   As long as you don't go TOO low on the low days (i.e. below 1200) I think this is fine, even a good idea, because it keeps your metabolism guessing a bit. 

The only prob with this method is that it is very easy to go above the 2600 limit, especially with things like booze and pizza.  but I would never cut these out completely! just do it with a bit more motivation

Original Post by hope2577:

In the past two weeks, I have had these ridiculous sugar/carb cravings. It usually starts in the early afternoon. I am eating breakfast and snack during the day. I also pack a decent lunch. At around 2-3:00, I become ravenous! I will just dive into anything with sugar (usually cookies or candy) and it gets to the point where I cannot stop! During this fit of insanity, I don't even feel like I care if I gain 100 lbs. Can someone please help me? I love sugar but this has never happened before and I am not sure how to stop it or what I am doing wrong....

Sample menu:

breakfast-special k red berries & coffee w/ sweet & low

snack: protein or nutri grain bar and piece of fruit

lunch: turkey sandwich on light whole wheat bread & sugar free rockstar

Hi Hope, I am so with you.  this happens to me all of the time.  One thing I've noticed though, is that if I have cereal for breakfast (usually special K) it makes me ravenous for the rest of the day.  Not sure why, but I've  observed it several times, so I've just had to cut it out of my breakfast routine.  Instead I have either a fat free yogurt (which is very small but keeps me more satisfied than the cereal) or if i am really hungry I have a scrambled egg sandwhich.  Both seem to do the trick about 90 % of the time

I'll bite too...

1. Do you go to a gym to exercise? If yes how much do you pay per month?

yes, I pay £83 a month which is $166 US dollars per month.  very expensive I know, but I live in London and things are ridiculously expensive here!

2. What is your favourite activity?

going out, reading and musical festivals

3. Favourite food?

pizza and pasta, but I also love trying new foods - and I love eating out

4. How many calories do you aim to consume each day?

1200 on the week days (when I'm being good), way more on the weekends

5. How much is the price of gas where you live?

It's about  $9.65 US dollars  per gallon - if you can believe it!  I dont drive here though, so it's not a prob for me

6. What is your form of transportation?

the tube (subway), train and bus

7. Do you have a cell phone, if so what provider are you with & do you hate them?

yep, I use Orange (a UK provider) and I have no strong feelings for them either way

8. Do you collect anything, if so what?

no, except for extra weight

9. What are you currently reading, if anything.

I'm currently reading the 39 steps by John Buchan

10. Where do you work or go to school?

I'm a corporate lawyer, I work in the City of London (sort of the equivalent to wall street in new york)

11. On a scale of 1-5 how boring was it to read these, 1 being boring, 5 being boring x5

1, but then again I'm a lawyer and we have a whole different scale of boring to contend with!

If you live in the UK you should def try the weight watchers macaroni and cheese ready meal.  it's only 320 calories for 400 grams and I actually think it's really good!  It's definitely miles better than any other "diet" mac and cheese I've tried (like  sainsburys be good to yourself), for example, and it's also lower in calories than many other diet options.   

It's white pasta, so it's not the best thing in the world for you but it keeps me full in the evening, and the best thing for me is that it's portion controlled.  I can keep eating pasta til the cows come home (and then when they do finally come home they look worrying like me!) so portion control is very important for me. 

Original Post by clusterz:

"It's really tough - eating out is honestly one of my favorite activities and I'm not willing to give it up just for the sake of weight loss."

What about taking a few month to lose weight and then resume a normal "thin and sportive" life? anyone can lose 5/10lbs a month, most people don't need to lose more than a few dozen lbs, i don't understand how the prospect to shred all superfluous weight at once (without resorting to those hundreds of silly commercial diets from, ahem, "nutritionists", who more often than not contradict themselves in their volution to make money out of gullible people who don't get that dieting is before all a fight against hunger where the enemy is modern life and too much time and money, or/and stress... but surely not food itself, nor any specific kind of food) and then resume a normal life for years cannot be a valuable goal. It seem like people do like dieting, or make it a part of their life.Maybe they are afraid to discover that being thin won't reslove all their problems or make them immortal? anyway, dieting is a moment that i prefer to quickly put behind me.

And if you love to eat out, it is surely better to eat out when you're at your goal weight and have a huge margin that allows you excess, than "spending years eating out but not really because you're in a diet and must think of whatever your order" which doesn't seem all that appealing to me. But, well, it's your life.

 Clusterz, for me it's more about changing my life-style, rather than having a two or three month period of restrictive dieting, and then going back to "normal".  i'm not advocating that everyone should do exactly as I do, but I promise that, for me at least, I was able to steadily lose weight (40 lbs) and keep it off  by eating smaller calories portions most of the time, and also eating out 3 or 4 times a week.  i also drank alcohol, but usually only when i'm out.  

Original Post by wasalisa:

My husband lives on Little Debbie snack cakes, pop tarts, Coke and what not.  He'll eat healthy if we're cooking, but if we go out its a plate full o' fried calories for him.

He has never had a weight problem.  Yes, sometimes he is really irritating...especially when he tells me that eating a bunch of veggies is "eating too much", even though what I've eaten has a fraction of the calories of his meal...

 

 OOooh - I hate that!  My husband is basically clueless about weightloss and he really cant seem to understand that eating a large plate full of veggies can have less calories than a small plate full of something laden with oil and sugar.  For him it's all about volume!

  It's really frustrating, so I've been trying to approach it from a nutritional angle -- he seems to understand that a big bowl  full of broccoli is more nutrious than a chocolate bar, even if he doesnt get that the former has less calories!!!

pizza!  The moment I have it my mind switches into "treat" mode and I just cant force myself to only a slice or two. 

I'm from the US but I've lived in England for the past 8 years.  I miss tons of things, especially low-fat mozzarella string cheese (here they only have this disgusting processed fatty salty string stuff that cant legally even be called cheese) and also kashi go lean and kashi in general...oh and low calorie ice-creams.  those slim-a-bear ice cream sandwiches are amazing. 

but at least we've recently gotten a whole foods store, which has hooked me up with a lot of the foods i've been missing.

I bet in Malaysia you at least have amazing street food, though?

Original Post by blapityblap:

i'm also in the same boat as you. i went from almost never binging, to binging maybe once every two weeks, to binging almost every other day. its a tough habit to break. try to recognize how you're feeling before you binge. are you nervous? stressed? frustrated? find healthier alternatives to rid yourself of those feelings.

my main problem is my "all-or-nothing" attitude. say i go 100 calories over my allowance. then i think to myself, well, you already overate a bit. why not make it 500 calories over your limit? 400 calories later, i find myself thinking: great, now you really blew it. what's another 500? before i know it i'm at 3,000+ calories with a stomach ache and a giant black cloud of guilt over my head.

here's a few things that have helped me:
1. except for preparing meals and snacks, i am not allowed in the kitchen area.
2. when i am eating, i do not take one bite of food until i put all the preparation materials away. then i take my plate out of the kitchen and sit down.
3. i take a deep breath before each bite, so i don't feel like i'm inhaling my food.
4. if i feel a binge coming on, i journal like there's no tomorrow, or come on here and answer people's posts. it keeps my hands busy.
5. take a shower. brush my teeth. wash my face. i do something that makes me feel refreshed and clean. that way i am more motivated and am more likely to control myself.
6. i think we all have a friend that just does not stop talking. call them. you don't have to tell him/her that you are trying to avoid a binge, but use the motormouth to your advantage. the longer you are on the phone, the longer you have to tune in to your body and recognize if you are actually hungry.

good luck, and stay motivated !

 Blapity blap, you describe the way I am perfectly.  If I go over by 100 calories, or if I even eat something I cant measure nutrionally, I just think "what the ****" and go crazy.  It happens to me mostly at work, which means I can't even employ your (very useful) distraction tactics...