Maintaining

Hi,

On my 40th Birthday I made a promise to myself that I was going to lose weight. I was sick of being overweight, frumpy and miserable!

So here it is, today, my 41st Birthday I have been successful in losing 30kgs (66lbs). I'm now 180cm and 70kgs.... but I struggle on a daily basis to maintain this. Food is my obsession...I count calories... I rarely ever stray from the exact same food every day because I am scared to eat the wrong thing.

I know there is way too much sodium in my diet because I snack on flavoured rice crackers every day.

My problem is that if I stray from my 'exact' menu on any given day then I seem to lose control and binge...I can't afford to have even the slightest taste of something without weakening and eating it all... so I just don't taste other things at all.

I need to educate myself on healthy eating because I'm sure I am missing essential nutrients from my eating plan... and don't think I have any protein?

So although I don't need to 'lose' weight the fat woman in me is screaming to get out and it's a daily battle to keep her hidden!

HELP!

Peta

Wow! 30kg, that is amazing. Well done!

Maybe it would help to introduce new foods earlier in the day, so that if you do overeat you have the rest of the day to correct it. Also, try introducing new fruits and vegetables. It's important to eat a variety of these, and it's also pretty difficult to binge on them because they're mostly water and fibre. Aim for lots of different colours of veggies, to get different benefits. How about starting out by introducing new foods as snacks, while keeping your meals the same? It can help to carry your day's snacks with you in little containers, so that you can't eat more than you intended to. One snack I love is a container of raw vegetable sticks (carrots, celery, peppers, etc), and about 100ml of home-made dip. I use half-half yoghurt and cottage cheese (both low-fat or fat-free), and then flavour it with sweet chilli sauce.

I've found an easy way to add protein to my diet is vegetarian sausages. They're low-fat and satisfying, and one or two of them makes a great 4pm snack. Tofu is also good, because it's so filling that you CAN'T binge on it. If I'm hungry but don't want something strong-flavoured, I like to cook it by dropping it in boiling water, and then eat it plain with reduced salt soy sauce drizzled on top. After 200g my protein needs are sorted for the day and I can't eat another bite.

Thankyou,

People like you are the reason I joined this site because I thought that I could gain some tips and ideas of other things to introduce to my diet.

I have spent 40yrs overweight so obviously I am not very good at knowing the 'right' foods... those sneaky calories sometimes hide in the simplest of things.

Thanks for those snack tips. Much appreciated. I figure the more 'safe' foods I can find the less I'll be tempted by the bad foods!

Peta

Another poster mentioned this web site:

 http://www.whfoods.com/ It has a list of healthy foods to eat, lots of recipes, and will send you an e-mail every day with a new recipe if you sign up. They seem to promote their book alot, but I like the recipes I've found there so far. I also have to guard against opening the floodgates and snacking  more than I want to. Some folks here talk about cycling or zig-zaging. I have't tried it yet but will probably give it a try when I hit a plateau or just need a bowl of ice cream. Happy birthday, and congratulation on coming so far!