Posts by slicey

I've been sick all weekend, so haven't had much appetite or taste buds for anything. It makes me want to eat unhealthy though, like salty foods or really sweet foods so that I can actually taste it.

Went out to a movie last night and brought my diet green tea and a couple of sugar free turtles with me. Hit the spot for those movie junk food cravings.

SW: July 4th - 205

CW: July 10th - 199

Lost: 6lbs

9lbs to go!

I think they probably mean to create lean muscles (like a dancer's body) versus bulky muscles (like a football player's body).

Just adding my "here, here" to this discussion. It kind of throws me off a little when I check my analysis for the week and see a spike in my 1200 calorie days to 2000 calories - I have to try and remember that I also burned more calories that day. A daily rundown of net calories would be much more helpful to track whether I'm meeting my weight loss goals.

Is the answer still the same on this one? Are foods that users enter not added to the database by admin unless we specifically request it? Just wondering if anything has changed since January.

Original Post by spirochete:

My husband almost fell over dead during his first trip to an American restaurant. I think we were at a Friday's or somewhere like that. For some reason known only to God and him he wanted to try a typical American chain restaurant

WELL let me tell you, he was SHOCKED. He immediately whipped out his camera and took pictures of the food to send home. Apparently in Australia you don't get 6 lbs of food for $8. He took pictures of food for an entire week before the shock wore off

 Haha! My girlfriend did the exact same thing the first time she visited an Applebee's (she's from Australia).

I have a lot of international friends and they all say the same thing about America.  On the other hand, it annoys me to no end that whenever I travel to other countries I have to pay for water to drink with dinner and that soda is so expensive with no refills!

I think it all comes down to tradition. In the past, there were good reasons why Americans ate the way they did, but at times changed out eating traditions didn't.

I think the "value" obsession probably started in the '50s - America was making so many advances in "convenience" and advertising popped up and convinced everyone that the needed the newest convenience and the best value. Television began telling us to want what our neighbors had and to get everything "bigger and better." This is also shortly after the Great Depression so a generation of people were trained to get as much as they could while they can get it. I know that one of the main reason I've always been overweight is due to this "value" mentality. We're taught that it's bad form to leave food behind - you either eat everything on your plate or you have leftovers. And we're taught to get the most we can for our money - this means buying the value meal, buying 2 for 1, buying the largest value size of anything that we can. Also, in the last 50 years our social traditions have changed so that our entertainment has become more sedentary, most people have cars, walking or riding a bike somewhere is just not popular - except in large, metropolitan cities.

Thankfully I think the consequences of our actions are finally catching up to us and Americans are beginning to realize what we're really getting for all our "value."

And as far as food choices go (as opposed to portion sizes), the midwest, or middle America or whatever you want to call it, is also influenced by tradition. It goes back to the days of the settlers and early farmers. The mainstay of the diet was carbs: biscuits, breads, potatoes and fats: pork, beef, chicken because everything was based on the season and food storage. Eating huge meals, fried foods, etc was common for farmers because they worked all day and were famished at each meal - and eating traditions get passed down. The same way cooking traditions get passed down in southern "soul food" cooking or certain regions of Mexican cooking.

We keep eating these traditional unhealthy foods because our parents and grandparents did, because that's what was locally available for them. Even though we have the convenience of grocery stores stocked with food brought in from around the country and around the world, most of us continue to eat what is familar to us.

And let's face, in better climates like California and Florida you have more fruit and more veggies year round, so families have probably been eating healthier in certain areas of the U.S. for generations. There are always cultural, socio-economic, and political reasons for the way we eat, but Americans are getting more educated about food and becoming more enlightened as to what our food traditions are doing to our health and our bodies.

Make sure you're getting enough calories a day - around 1800 - but try getting more of your calories from proteins and less from carbs and sugars.

Try eating more lean meats and more veggies, but cut out any starchy foods like potatoes and rice if you usually eat that for dinner. Also cut out fried foods and if you have a sweet tooth, save desserts for a reward at the end of the week for eating healthy during the week.

Also pay attention to portion sizes. You can eat what you want, in moderation, and still lose weight.

If you try getting more protein and fiber in your diet you will fill full on fewer calories and you won't feel like you're "dieting" or restricting yourself in any way and you'll be less likely to "yo-yo" then.

I have a slow metabolism too, but I find that I lose weight more easily when I cut as much sugar from my diet as possible, drink a lot of water,  and try to walk at least 30 minutes a day.

Good Luck!

I'm also looking for the best tasting protein powder.

I'm on a low-carb diet plan and - especially during the summer - I'd rather drink a refreshing protein drink or smoothie for breakfast instead of loading up on protein and cutting carbs by eating a lot of meat and eggs.

Any suggestions for what you think are the best tasting protein powders out there (any flavor) would be greatly appreciated!

I would LOVE to see a measurement tracker and a body fat% tracker added to CC!

I'll probably never keep track of them otherwise. I have a scale that logs my weight and body fat % since the last weigh-in, but I know I'll never be diligent to keep track of my measurements unless I have a specific place to log them - like CC.

The yolk is where the fat and cholesterol of the egg is, so eating just the whites is healthier. If you don't have high cholesterol and you can work the fat and calories into your diet then you might as well eat the whole egg. Or try Egg Beaters to eat healthier "eggs" that still taste like real eggs and not just the whites.

Alright, I'm joining y'all too!

SW (07/05)      &n bsp;GW  (08/25)
   202               &nb sp;     187

I'm 28, 5'7".

I've just started a low-carb, low-cal eating plan and I'm going to begin the "Slim in 6" exercise program next week. Currently, I walk about 5 miles a day - burning 300-500 calories.

I'm about at the same place you are.

I've been 190-200 for the past year, though my "normal" adult weight has been 180 and I'm looking to get down to around 150.

I bought a pedometer and try to make sure that I walk 5 miles a day and I'm going to try jump-starting my weight loss with a low carb meal plan and a new exercise plan this week.

I just found this website a couple of days ago and I hope it will give me the motivation I need to stick with it.

I tend to get into "vacation mode" too often. I've been in a long-distance relationship for 5 years and whenever my partner and I visit each other for extended periods of time it always feels like a vacation and - for me - vacation equals eating out and allowing myself treats that I normally wouldn't. As a result, I've gained a lot of weight - in the last year, especially - because being with my partner encourages me to eat more, eat less healthy, and generally enjoy myself!

I'm trying to encourage myself to get into more of a "dating" mindset of wanting to look fabulous for the dating world vs being comfortable with your partner and "letting yourself go" (I hate that term, but you know what I mean).

Drink Suggestions: Arizona Diet Green Tea - it's flavored with Splenda so it tastes sweet and refreshing and has the healthy EGCG antioxidant of green tea. Snapple makes a healthy Diet Green Tea version too. Both of these are made with 100% brewed green tea, so they're natural tea, not tea-flavored like some other drinks.

I also drink Light Cranberry Juice Cocktail which tastes just like regular cranberry juice but at only 40 calories and 9g of sugar is a much better juice choice.

Both of these are mostly water, so (though not at beneficial as tap water) they will help with your daily water intake.

Original Post by imgonnaloseit:

 It says here to eat 1800 cals a day but that seems extreme to me. I try not to eat more than 1,000. Hope to hear from some of you ladies.

You definately need to consume more calories or you will continue to not lose! Your body doesn't have enough calories to burn, so it's storing everything you eat. You should be eating closer to 1500-1600 a day if you want to lose weight. I think if you eat 1800 you might maintain. Right not you're not eating enough to allow your body to actually burn the fat and lose weight.

Also, if you don't already, take your body measurements and start recording that on a weekly or monthly basis instead of paying too much attention to the scale. Weight plateaus will happen, but that doesn't mean you can't still lose inches!

Good luck!