Slow-paced dieters? Let's rally!!

Hi everyone!  I've read so many threads where people are dieting quickly and eating like 1300 calories a day and stuff like that.  I've got a very slow-paced goal for myself.  I want to lose 63 pounds but plan on doing so over the next 23 months.  I'm in no rush and don't have the discipline to "crash diet". 

I'm consuming 1700-2000 calories a day and trying to work out 20-30 minutes/day but I'm REALLY bad at motivating myself to do that, especially during the August heat.  I'll be doing more bike riding as fall comes closer. 

So, who else out there is dieting slowly?  Who needs motivation to work out?  Let's get on each other's friends lists and start supporting each other.

Tara,  I don't know about a aplurge day once/week but I certainly don't mind indulging on special occassions.  I totally pigged out on my birthday last month and tomorrow my husband and I are going to the State Fair.  Granted, I'll be doing lots of walking but I plan to ENJOY a funnel cake, a giant turkey leg, and ice cream.  I'll drink tons of water as well but I don't plan to deny myself this once a year pleasure.

I don't do a "cheat day"... I will allow myself a TASTE of whatever it is that I want... but my calories zig zag naturally anyway... today I'll be doing well if I can get to 1400... but some days I"m at 2200... and either way... I don't sweat it much.

But for me... I have to avoid those "trigger" foods... I really can't do chocolate and sugar and chips and things of that nature (ESPECIALLY if I've been drinking)... because it leads to me wanting more of those...

and when I started this and tried to keep at 1200 calories... every two weeks or so I'd have a day when I went up to 5000 calories.  Now, I guess... in the long run I was still losing 1-2 pounds a week... but those days after the "cheat" were so drpressing...  I hated the feeling... the bloat... the yuck of eating all that processed food.

That was part of the lifetime "deal" with myself... Never again will I say, "It's okay if I eat half that cake."  It's just not... it's not okay to eat half a pizza... there's just no need for it.

But that's my lifestyle... that's another great thing this site hsa opened my eyes to... There are so many different WAYS out there... a "crash" diet when you have eight pounds to lose may not be a bad idea at all...  Someone with 200 to lose who goes 2 months on and 2 months off... whatever floats your boat...

so if you want to have a "controlled" cheat... I say GO for it!   If you don't... tell your husband to take is fudge bar and...  *lol*... just kidding!

I don't have a "cheat" day because as long as it fits within my calories I eat it.  I don't mean everyday.....   I even may just allow a calorie overage.... I guess that is why I am a "slow" dieter.

I'm wondering how much attention everyone pays to their "grade" for the day in compared to calories consumed.  Even if I consume 2400 calories but have an "A" for how I've balanced my carbs/fat/protein then I feel relly good about myself.

Tomorrow's going to be a total cheat day but the way my husband likes to enjoy the state fair is to buy a little of everything and SHARE, SHARE, SHARE.  He has a healthy appetite so I can have a few bites of ice cream, 1/2 a pork chop, 1/2 a doughnut, and a small glass of root beer and let him gorge.  Plus, I'll wear a pedometer to get an idea of how many miles I walk over the course of the day.  My guess is I'll walk at least 4-5 miles.  It also helps that my favorite fair food are these giant dill pickles (nope- not deep fried or anything) so if I have a couple of those and some corn on the cob in addition to the junk, I should be alright.

kthompson92 Me too! I try to stay within the goal I set, but if I KNOW there is a day upcoming that is just too full of temptaion, I up the calories for my goal that day.  It works the other way too. I kinda wince a bit when even though I stay within my goals if I got a C or D, which I have ashamedly have done many a time :(  *sigh*

Wow!!! People who also want to lose weight slowly!!! Where have you been?!

I went from 136 a year and a half ago to 121.5 right now. I used to have an ED so I'm super careful about how I'm going about losing weight and getting in better shape. Strictly count calories and obsessing over them got me into a big mess many years ago, and I don't want to go there again.

Right now my goal is 118. Really it's more about inches to me than weight.

texasteach - yes a hot really hot date with a scrummy guy.  He was an old flame 30 years ago and I literally bumped into him in a restaurant in NY a few months ago........and we are both widowed.  I gotta land this one so that is my incentive to look wonderful!

Okay confession time.  I have had a few or three of those MacDonald mcflurrys over the past couple of weeks and guess what, 640 cal each!  That just cannot be right.....but could be the reason the scales are not shifting.

Its water water water today and mayabe tomorrow, then average out at about 1500 - 1800 cals to see if that does the trick.  If it comes off slowlyl it will stay off.  I have been slimmer in the past (haven't we all) and if I was two stone lighter then, I can do it now.

How much do you reckon I ought to weigh, out of interest? I am 5ft 5in, medium frame (I think) and was 179lbs, now 167lbs.  I guess 140lb would be nice....

Have a great day everyone, and keep drinking the water - on the positive side, at least its free!  

Lynne (England)

Morning all!

Ugg...yesterday was spent on the road and eating out twice!  I don't even know what the calories were.  But I am happy to report that I did get my water in so that makes two days in a row.  That is probably a record for me!  I bought myself a gallon pitcher and I am going to fill it in the morning and try to have it empty by days end.  That will give me a visual goal to work towards.

I was waiting with my little girl for the bus, she was wearing an adorable brand new yellow shirt and eating a gogurt, the bus pulls into the driveway, I reach for the gogurt and it squirts all over her brand new yellow shirt!  Nothing can be done except to wipe it off as best as I can and tell her to try to clean it up when she gets to school.  Oh, the gogurt was purple!  She didn't cry but I wanted to!

Thank you to everyone who has been encouraging me to drink my water.  You don't know how much that actually helps me.

tangerine- Welcome to the group.  The only rules are:

• you have to be willing to splurge once in a while without feeling guilty (at least know that we won't make you feel guilty!)
  
• you must nag us incessently about drinking water as we will do the same to you
• you must enjoy food... I think we're nicknaming ourselves the Eating Dieters

That said, I'm off to get my first glass of water for the day.

kthompsonB    I pay an inordinate amount of attention to my grade... somehow I've managed never to get below an A-... but I always frown when I'm putting white wine in... because it has a D-... and I'm always afraid it's going to throw me off for the day.  Have a great time at the fair!

clarkplace  I try to plan for upcoming days, too if I know I'm going to have more calories... like generally I go lower on Thurs. and Fri because the weekend is coming up.. (understand by lower I mean 1500 because it's likely to be 2000 over the weekend)

tangerine  Hi ya... Yeah, my whole concept of an actual "goal weight" has gone out the window.  I'm going to keep eating right... keep exercising... and see where it takes me.  You make yourself NUTTY if you're doing EVERYTHING to get to a "number" on the scale... not even BMI.. IF you look at those, Brad Pitt is obese... totally not kidding!

lynne  I'm so excited for you!  I can't wait to hear it!!!  and I hope your mcflurries were awesome... I haven't had one usually when I got to McDonald's it's a number 3... (DOUBLE quarter pounder with cheese and supersize fries!)  but I haven't been in more than a year!

sadiesmom yellow and purple are LOVELY together :-)  that which doesn't klll  us makes us stronger, right?  I love the pitcher idea.  I have a 64 oz water bottle that I tote around with me... and it has to be gone by about three!

Okay, yall dont' throw rocks at me or anything like that... I SWEAR I'm eating my 1600-1800 calories a day, but I"ve lost 6.2 pounds in the last two weeks.  I'm pretty darn stoked I must say.  I'm sure to hit another plateau eventually... but I'm pretty happy right now!

Drink your water!

Hi all! 

I share the Road Trip Woes! I'm fearing a fun weekend with my high-energy son and husband who can both eat all the McFlurries they like and not gain an ounce.. (well... time is catching up with my spouse, hee hee.. but he can still eat way more than me!). 

I'm planning to go buy some healthy snacks so I can have them with me to stave off the starving fast-food cave-in.  That happened last night when I miscalculated dinnertime and ended up eating Pizza at 8:30 -- yikes!!  Did I mention I'm hypoglycemic?  I can't wait 6 hours for dinner -- I'll just fall down.  Yesterday was the worst food day I've had in a while --  starving between meals, unhealthy snacks, no exercise -- yuck!  All because of a big work deadline -- my nemesis! Oh well, today's another day! 

Fall down 9 times, get up 10, right?

Welcome new forum people!  This is such a positive group!!

For all of us wishing they could have a little wine or something now and then -- I added 3 glasses of wine the other night, and I still got an 'A' -- haha.. but the obvious downside of alcohol -- (the calories and the effect of alcohol on fat burning) is another story!  Plus, I shouldn't be drinking at all b/c I'm on Accutane... evil drug!!

One thing I need to do is drink buckets and buckets of water ... which I'm going to go do right now!!

I so appreciate hearing about your struggles and triumphs -- Thanks for sharing! 

As far as drinking water goes, I've recently discovered that I drink more if it's from a straw, so I've been refilling a Dunkin Donuts iced coffee cup with water at least 3 times a day at work. That's working really well for me - not up to as much water as some of you folks, but it's definitely an improvement!

I'm very excited today because I decided to try on a pair of capris that were too tight at the end of the school year in June... and they fit! 

I feel so vindicated seeing that this is working and I am not starving myself.  I have always hated when people say that overweight people just don't have the "will power" to get thin.  I think we have INCREDIBLE will power to half-starve ourselves for months and months at a time.  When our bodies kick in and fight back for adequate amounts of food, we end up overeating because we've been hungry for so long and haven't learned anything about real life in the months that we dieted so strictly.

I know many "naturally thin" people and almost all of them watch what they eat in some way.  If they eat heavier at one meal or on one day, they will watch themselves at the next meal or day.  But because they are thin, they have never been bombarded with the guilt that fat people do for the same things.  When Grace Adler (on Will and Grace) eats a carton of ice cream, it's "cute"!  She does not feel so guilty that she then goes on eating a carton a day for a year...

Maybe I am exaggerating... but I think this is really about slow and steady winning the... I don't know what, since I don't think it's a race... maybe it's that if we're slow and steady we can admire the view along the way...

Wishing everyone a GREAT weekend!

Go drink some water! ;)

:) Wendy

You all rock!

Go drink a glass of water.  For that matter go drink two!  Hee, hee.

I have more to chug today but the pitcher is emptying.  It is satisfying to see the water level going down.  I am such a visual person and I need this kind of reinforcement.  Hey, anything that helps, right?

I twisted my ankle really bad this morning!  Dumb pipe laying in the floor that I didn't see.  So, anyway, I didn't get my walk in.  So, everyone please send good thoughts my way so I will be able to go on my walk in the morning.

I am so glad I found this thread and that you all are so real and make me drink my water.

Geez, no wonder my weight loss is so slow....every time I manage to lose a pound or two, I put it back on :)

Ugh, the scale ABSOLUTELY refused to play nice today. I started the week at 137.5lbs. Today, I was 139 lbs. I'm not overly worried about it...it's mostly likely water weight because we went out for Mexican last night.

There are just certain foods that I eat that automatically cause my weight to go up at least 1.5 lbs the next day....Mexican is one of them. As long as I drink plenty of water, my weight normally returns back to it's current level within a day or so.

Ah well.....I had a couple of great workouts this week. Ran a 10 miler at a 9:30 min/mile pace on Tuesday, and totally rocked my 5K time by running it in 27:40 today. Also got some resistance training in (which I absolutely HATE doing) - so all in all, I can't complain.

I'll be out hiking in the Pioneer Mountains in SW Montana next week - so I'll talk to you all when I'm back online on the 27th!

Happy hydrating and losing - have a great weekend!

OKay... gang... so I lost another pound today... but here's the thing.  I'm going to Alamo Drafthouse tonight to see Superbad... and I'm DYING for beer and pizza... it's a Catch 22... I"m trying to tell myself that LOGICALLY it won't be enough to actually gain a pound (a pound is 3400 extra calories)... but I KNOW it'll show up on the scale... maybe I can do it... and stay off the scale until Tuesday... that's what I'll do!

Yesterday was even worse than I'd hoped. 4800 calories.  YIKES!!  Trying to cleanse the system today and get back in better habits.  Water, water, water. 

So, as usual, I weighed myself first thing in the AM.  Is it possible that I gained 2.5 pounds yesterday?!?!  I know I pigged out, but Jesus!  I only had one small glass of coke and everything else I drank was plain water or sports water plus I did tons of standing & walking.  I also tried to eat some healthier options at the fair: a ginormous dill pickle (these things are about the size of 4 regular pickles put together) and a caramel apple thinking the apple and peanuts were at least healthy.  UGH.

Kthompson---drink,drink, drink that water.  It will help to flush out all that bad (good) stuff you had.

Don't beat yourself up too much.  Just work out a little more and don't eat quite as much for the next couple of days.

and no... 2.5 REAL pounds is not possible... A pound=3500 calories.. so that would mean you had to eat 8750 calores OVER the amount you burned... YOuu're okay... and it doesn't matter.

You PLANNED for it.  You knew you were going to do it... YOu didn't cheat... you took a day "off"... you recorded it... you didn't try to pretend that it didn't happen... and you'r enot going to do it today... My bet.. in three days it's all gone.

Ok, drinking the water and eating much better today.  Didn't get in an "actual" work out yet but I've been back-to-school shopping.  That's a workout in and of itself.  I, too, was thinking I'd have the weight back off soon so thanks for the encouragement.  The water went well today... going on 80 oz. and still drinking. 

I didn't know until almost 5 pm that we'd be dining out with friends this evening.  I had accounted for a healthier dinner.  So we endedu up going out and it was VERY difficult to figure out how to log the calories.   We went to a German restaurant and ordered a family style meal so I just had a few bites of each dish.  I found that certain dishes (ie. Wiener Schnitzel) could only be marked if you ate "1 serving" but all I really ate was 2 or 3 bites.  I decided to stop trying to log each individual thing I tried and just put 1 serving of Wiener Schnitzel in place of all my meats.  This came out just shy of 2100 calories for the day (and that's counting a glass of wine and a shot) but since I didn't each much meat and had some leaner meats like chicken as well, I think the 720 calories for meat is an over-calculation.

How do you guys count food when you just have a few bites?  I kept great track of what I ate during dinner and had plenty of mixed veggies, saurkraut, and cabbage which were also on the platter but found it was nearly impossible to log my "nibbles" even though I ate a full meal.

Not as good as I'd hoped for the day but since the going out to eat was last minute, it was tough to prepare for.  Fortunately, we topped off dinner with a 20 minute stroll around downtown so that was good! :)