Jodi, judging by the most recent pictures of you, you look extremely healthy, energetic and within a perfectly normal weight range. I agree with Katie, stop beating yourself up. Many people would kill to have your figure. You are not fat. Are you trying to lose weight to conform to some idealized figure you see in your head or because you want to stay fit and healthy and be able to treat yourself to occasional goodies while maintaining a steady weight? Don´t forget that the long term goal here is your health. A healthy body is infinitely more beautiful than a model-thin one. Thi isn't a pep-talk, it's the truth.

Elena
http://www.duoscarbo.com

I want to get away from some of the binge type eating I do sometimes. I would like to get comfortable with eating three meals a day, and a few snacks, and not opening up a bag of pepperidge farm cookies, and downing the entire package in one sitting. I do realize it's ok to eat really yummy/really caloric stuff sometimes, just not ALL the time.

And, I just want to fit back into my clothes. Not the ones I could wear when I was 20 (those leather pants are going to be in the closet forever ), but the ones I could wear when I got really fit (and trashed my back ) a couple of years ago. That means losing about 20 pounds. I want to lose the love handles, and a bit of the baby belly roll. That's what I'm aiming for, anyway.

Jodi

You are sounding depressed, Jodi. I know what you mean about getting really hungry. I tend to have blood sugar swings, although they seem to be pretty much under control right now. That was the appeal of the Atkins Diet for me at one time - you never had to be hungry. But, in the long run, I'm finding that cutting way back on what I have been eating, but eating a little of everything is working much better for me. I don't get super hungry anymore and my activity level is only moderate. I am on my feet all day and moving around, but I am doing well if I get in 30 minutes a day on the treadmill during the school year. I was never obese either, but I was up 25-30 pounds over what I consider my ideal. I don't ever need to be 110 again, nor do I want to be, but I am determined to be 125. My point is, once you get start losing, you will feel better about yourself. In the beginning, the vegetable soup I was making was a life-saver for me. My whole summer menu was pretty much soup, yogurt, salad and a small dinner of some form of protein and salad or a very small portion of pasta. Once I got my appetite readjusted, it wasn't so bad. I am a very impatient person and want fast results so the first few weeks were frustrating. But Cindy's right, if you just do 1-2 pounds a week, it really adds up fast. And then it slows down, but it still adds up as long as you are headed in the right direction. Hang in there, Jodi. My sis told me a good one that might help with your goodies tooth - "Nothing tastes any better after 3 bites." P.S. - Had a great fall ride this morning. Haven't been for awhile, the horses were frisky!

quote:

Originally posted by katie:
I'm at 91. That's up 2#. Must have been the carp I was eating this w/e.

katie - repeat after me: Riesen chocolate carmels = carp. Riesen chocolate carmels = carp.

I just can't even have that stuff around and open, I've decided. It was bad enough driving the two hours home from Seattle sitting next to the last pumpkin muffin. And then, I get home and discover that my husband has gone to KRISPY KREME and bought a dozen. Chocolate covered.

But I'm attempting to find other things to satisfy my hunger. I have a lovely brussel sprout recipe. (I'm actually being serious - it was quite good, with just a touch of honey and lemon, it almost qualifies as a dessert. )

*sigh* This is hard, isn't it. I'm right with you, though. I'm trying to think of this hollow feeling in the pit of my stomach as my friend. *even bigger sigh*

I'm still at 97. But the belt buckle on my riding pants went one notch smaller yesterday. Really easily.

Jodi

quote:

and in our neighborhood we parents usually load up our thermoses with hot & tasty high cal alcoholic beverages for the 2 hour journey. I'll now have to find something low cal, & likely cold this year (maybe crantinis or something straight up)

Katie, what about some hot apple cider with cinnamon sticks? I would pass up most alcoholic beverages just to have that!! I find it is also very filling. By the way, love that pic!!

Jodi, I am like you. I absolutely *will* binge on stuff that is highly caloric if it is lying around the house. If I buy a bar of Lindt chocolate, by the end of the day it is 3/4 gone. If I buy chocolate chip cookies I will eat the whole box. I find this tends to happen when I am by myself. So in Spain, where I am at home alone most of the time, I buy absolutely nothing that will tempt me. Or I buy things that if I do binge on them I won't feel guilty or put on the pounds (like yogurt, nuts, or high-fiber cereal).

Have you thought of keeping around some large quantities of low-sugar, low salt trail mix (mostly with seeds nuts and dried fruit? not the stuff with the bready sticks) When you binge on that you reach a point where you definitely don't want any more, nor anything else (except water!). It must be hard when you have hubby there bringing home all the stuff you don't want (but you do). Have you told him about your efforts to lose weight? I'm surprised he would do this if he knows you are trying to cut back.

Elena
http://www.duoscarbo.com

Love the pumpkin! Do you have one of those juicers, katie? The kind you can toss apples, carrots, whatever into? You could do a couple apples, and a pear and a banana, and maybe some carrots for good measure, and then heat it up and toss in a splash of whiskey and cinnamon or something. I bet it would taste good.

I'm doing pretty well so far. It's been about 5 days. The first three were the worst. I just got home from the store - I made it through the bulk aisle (all that candy) without even a pang. I only whimpered slightly when I passed the donuts. It was barely noticeable.

For snacks, I bought some fruit, and some dried dates - I find one dried date with a little peanut butter on it can take the edge off my sweet tooth. Half an apple and some peanut butter works well too. That's what I had this afternoon. If I can stick to three small meals a day, two small snacks, and absolutely NO FOOD after dinner, then it works. My problem is that I like to graze. Big time. And I can finish one of those mondo Cadbury Fruit and Nut chocolate bars in the time it takes me to get from the grocery store to my house.

It's really hard. But I have to make this portion control thing a habit, otherwise, I'll never keep any weight off.

jodi

quote:

Originally posted by jodi:
But I'm attempting to find other things to satisfy my hunger. I have a lovely brussel sprout recipe. (I'm actually being serious - it was quite good, with just a touch of honey and lemon, it almost qualifies as a dessert. )

*sigh* This is hard, isn't it. I'm right with you, though. I'm trying to think of this hollow feeling in the pit of my stomach as my friend. *even bigger sigh*
Jodi

I KNOW what it's like. A few really practical suggestions.

Don't let your blood sugar get low. I have studied this (book learnin' and practical application). I've found that eliminating sugars actually retrains the insulin release, and hence carb metabolism. This can get rid of that feeling of gnawing hunger. Had a long post way back about the anti-hypoglycemic diet (which seems to have worked for teachum too).

No need to havw a fancy six hour glucose tolerance test (as I did) to diagnose this. If you apply it and it works - you are hypoglycemic. (Note - the regimin will also make you feel much better too, if you're in this category).

Thinking about your post earlier about the nausea etc, when you went so long without eating, really sounds like hypoglycemia. I don't think you could sit down and eat all that candy unless you had this trigger-happy insulin release which creates all kinds of kinds of responses to sugar, physical and psychological.

And it's reciprocal too - that is, the more you do it, the more it develops. "Feedback loop", that's what I wanted to say!

Part of the "diet" (hate that word) BTW is eating at least six times a day - small meals. No need to get that between-meal feeling.

Whoops - forgot to add another practical pointer. While you DO have those hunger pangs, much more helpful than water alone can be Metamucil and water. It's gives your stomach a feeling of fullness. Orange flavored

(I knew you were serious when you mentioned the brussel sprouts. Just kidding. RickCG likes them too. Someone must, or they wouldn't sell them in stores. Now, beets... )

96#. FINALLY.

The hardest time is dinner. Having to make a meal for two growing kids and a hungry husband. What I'm endind up doing is making something that I can modify for myself. Last night, I put a nice piece of pork with the bone in (I think they might have been country style ribs - there was fat, but a lot of meat) on top of a bed of chopped veggies (carrots, onion, green pepper, celery) and some spices with a couple of chicken boullion cubes, a couple cups of water, and some spices in 310 degree oven (in a covered Le Crueset dish) and cooked it for about three hours. Sort of a pork stew, meat falling off the bone and all. When done, I thickened the broth a bit with some flour (you usually have to add some water again) and then served it to them over mashed potatos. For me, I cooked up half a sweet potato in the microwave, and spooned a bit over the top of that. Plus a green salad, and everyone was happy. Except I didn't get to eat any chocolate. I had a couple of dried plums for dessert.

Jodi

I like your new avatar, Jodi. Is that Edith Bunker? I was going to suggest Katheryn Hepburn for you. Then I remembered. You can't have your Kate and Edith too.

So, what are you doing in this thread, He-sock, looking to shed a few pounds of lint?

Still 96#

I'm planning on opening up the bags of halloween candy as the first kid comes to the door, and putting any leftovers in a bag for my husband to take to the departmental office the next morning. I'm not going to eat a single piece. Anybody else care to take that pledge with me?


Side note - I find that I get to a certain point where the crappy stuff (store bought cookies, fast food, garden variety convenience store candy) doesn't taste that good, and if I'm going to treat myself, it needs to be with something really good. Homemade. Or high quality. The few times I've been successful with this eating thing (although I've yet to be successful with keeping it off) I've discoverd that when I pass that point, it becomes a bit easier.

The other thing that has helped me in the past was to give myself one day a week to eat what I wanted. I didn't binge the entire day, but I took a meal (usually dinner) where I allowed myself alcohol, and dessert. As long as I was really good the rest of the week, one day of extra calories didn't matter. We're having dinner guests on Saturday, and I can't wait.

What I am hoping this time around is that when I get to where I want to be, I can maintain by being really careful with food during the week, and then I can take the weekend off and enjoy.

Jodi

When I read your prior post about binge eating this morning about 4 a.m., I just had to go make pancakes. I did forgo the 12 ounce package of bacon, though, this time[i]. The more I read about [i]not eating the more I feel inspired to go cook.

Seriously, though, I do think it's the binges that get you. Starts off by opening the chocolate chips intended for making a double batch of fudge. Next thing you know both bags are gone. Then it needs something salty to kill the sugar. There goes a whole bag of nacho chips. Then some cheese to cleanse the palate. Then to assuage the guilt for all that junk, something healthy for "balance"--usually a full meal like steak and veggies.

I find myself thinking about that Dom DeLuise movie "Fatso" while reading this thread. Remember the scene where the support group fell off the wagon? Which reminds me of Mr. Joy Boy's mother in "The Loved One". I think of both of those at times when I'm puttering in the kitchen at 3 a.m.

I think I threw my metabolism out of whack this summer with the work of moving, though. For the last five years I've struggled to knock off the lousy 25 pounds I wanted to lose. I was threatening to go climb a mountain again as that worked years earlier. Now all my small clothes are falling off of me. (I've literally grabbed a piece of rope or wire in the garage to tie my shorts up while working in the yard.) So I recommend the stress and work of moving. But unless you have to move a mountain like I did, it might not work.

quote:

Originally posted by Rick (CG):
(I've literally grabbed a piece of rope or wire in the garage to tie my shorts up while working in the yard.)

We really need visuals for this one.

Those thick aluminum wires that hold chain link onto the fence posts work really well.