Anyone else trying to lose weight?

[Wyldewode]

Ugh. . . I went to a St. Patrick's Day party yesterday, and though I'd lost two pounds I may have gained them back yesterday.

So far all I've eaten is a tuna salad to go kit, which has 210 calories, and a tiny sliver of the cheesecake, which has probably around 300 calories. I'm thinking stir-fry for dinner with tofu and a modest portion of rice to bring me to about 1000 calories for the day. Oh, and some miso soup too.

[Zarathustra]

9 pounds in 5 weeks!

It's really starting to show. I can see my muscles again. I must be putting on some muscle, too, because it looks like I've lost a lot more than 9 pounds, to my eye. My pants are sagging off of me and I've had to pull out my 30/30s I haven't worn in a year and a half.

Congrats, Aliantha! That's fantastic progress.

[aliantha]

Thanks, Malik! Congrats to you too! And to everyone else -- we're pretty awesome, aren't we?

MsMary -- to keep from being hungry, maybe you can tweak your fiber intake? Or if it's a specific time of day when you get hungry, you could schedule a veggie-heavy snack (or a piece of fruit) for then. All of which you've probably thought of, so feel free to ignore me....

Lately, I've been trying to regard hunger pangs as my friend: "Hmm, my metabolism must be telling me to eat more because I'm -- hey! burning fat!"

[Zarathustra]

Lately, I've been trying to regard hunger pangs as my friend: "Hmm, my metabolism must be telling me to eat more because I'm -- hey! burning fat!"

Exactly. You've got to switch the way you think about it. Now, I associate a full feeling with lack of control and unneeded excess. And I associate the hungry feeling with determination and metabolism functioning correctly. I actually enjoy it. It makes me enjoy my food more because when I do eat, it is more satisfying. It makes food actually feel necessary, rather than just something to do. It's kind of like meditation, where I'm more in touch with my body and more in tune to its needs, rather than being a slave to my compulsive, thoughtless "grazing."

I don't let the hunger pangs get painful. I just wait until I feel hungry in order to eat.

You might want to try stuff that's filling without a huge calorie load--like soups, stews, etc. Drink a lot of water, too.

[aliantha]

I've been doing a lot of soups this winter. Seems to me like there's a lot more variety to be had with soup than with salads, since most of the things that make one plate of lettuce taste different from another plate of lettuce involve upping the calories painfully. (Or maybe I just got sick of eating plates of lettuce...)

[MsMary]

Yeah, soups are awesome for making you feel full without adding a lot of calories - as long as you stay away from cream soups.

[MsMary]

I went to a potluck dinner Thursday night. How the heck am I supposed to chart how many calories I ate at something like that??

[DukkhaWaynhim]

It's best not to chart it. Write it off as a cheat day, and think about your goal.

dw

[MsMary]

Good advice, dw. That's basically what I decided to do. Though I thought I did pretty well in picking out foods, overall. A little taste of things that looked interesting. The desserts are the hard part! I again took little portions to taste, but I am sure it was over my calorie limit!

I think I need a couple of days of diet shakes and/or diet meal bars to compensate.

[Zarathustra]

What, you don't travel armed with a kitchen scale and calorie reference books for common foods?

Yeah, potluck would be very difficult. In fact, just going to a restaurant is difficult. Of course, this difficulty presents the advantage of saving us money, because we haven't been eating out as much for this very reason. But it's starting to get old. I'm sick of tuna and salads.

I miss my local German restaurant. Handmade sausages, sauerkraut, and hot German potato salad. Yum! And Billy's Barbeque! The best beef brisket in the world! And Pazzos pizza pub. . . .

Ok, I've got to stop talking about it. God I'm hungry.

[MsMary]

Note to self: Do not, repeat DO NOT, buy more diet shakes when you run out of the ones you have.

Had a Slimfast Shake for breakfast, a South Beach Diet meal replacement bar for lunch.

I will have real food for dinner (and probably for snacks - I'll see how my calorie count looks).

[aliantha]

Ok, I've got to stop talking about it. God I'm hungry.

There was a fair amount of Easter candy around our house. Notice the past tense.... Plus we ate out more than I'm currently used to doing, since the girls were home for spring break. Soooo...this week is get-back-on-track week. The scale was *really* ugly this morning, but I'm hoping I can chalk up a fair amount of that to sodium intake/water retention. (Turkey ham for dinner Thursday, turkey ham leftovers for dinner Saturday, and a Chinese buffet yesterday.)

[MsMary]

This is the first time in years that Easter has not coincided with Passover. I could have actually eaten Passover candy without worrying that it was not kosher for Passover. And there was none around to eat.

[Worm of Despite]

Since there'll never be a thread for it in a fantasy geek forum, I'm trying to gain weight. I'm 185, going for 200. It's coming in nicely, as I've been doing cardio for years and am doing lots push-ups (no time for the spa right now). If you guys have any leftovers, please e-mail them to me.

[rbwright]

Hey all,

I new and would like to join if you don't mind. I ALWAYS need encouragement when it comes to eating right and trying to lose weight/be healthier. One thing that is really helping me this time around is that my husband is joining me so I don't have to prepare different foods for each of us and the kids just eat whatever we have, so it's good for everyone all the way around. I started in Jan and so far have lost about 14 lbs, but I have a REALLY long way to go.

Beth

[aliantha]

You go, Beth! And welcome to our little support group!

[MsMary]

I seem to be on a plateau.

[Wyldewode]

I got very bloated over the weekend (I ate meat at my parents' home after not having any for better than 2 weeks), and I was too scared to pull out the scale yet. However, my clothes feel better again, so maybe it was transitory.


Maybe tomorrow I will pull out the scale again. I can't leave it out since my cat will sit on it and wear out the batteries.

[balon!]

Down two pant sizes since the last time I bought slacks for work a couple of months ago.

Woo hoo!

[Wyldewode]

Excellent work, Balon!