Reformed eating....

[puzzled]

Near the end of last year, I began to worry about how tight my clothes were getting, and not being one to step on the scales myself much (though I have Chase step up every week or two to keep tabs on his gain/loss on meds), I stepped on the scale, and almost fell off at the large #!!!

So it was not really my New Years resolution, but a decision that I made right about New Years, to cut way back on my favorite beverage (Mt. Dew), step up the water intake big time and to stop eating things in the afternoon just because they are there, not because of hunger. If I get the urge to munch in the afternoon, I go for carrot sticks (which I love, really!) or an apple, or a salad, and I watch my portions at breakfast and dinner. Drink a bottle of water before i eat..that sort of thing...

I have been doing this now for about 10 days, and the scale really is moving in the right direction...I weigh myself in the morning, and from when I began until now, the number has dropped..not a lot....a couple pounds, but still. It is enough to make me want the water in the fridge instead of the Mt. Dew sitting right next to it, and to successfully avoid the Little Debbie Nutty bars that had begun to call me from the cupboard yesterday....I bought them for chase....he needs the calories, not me!

I am still drinking one 12 ounce Mt. Dew each day, but sometimes I forget til late and then don't...I have been sleeping much deeper and better. And I haven't had a caffeine headache, so all is good.

After I get paid this week, or maybe this afternoon while I am thinking about it, I am going to the hospital gym and signing up. It is only like $15 a month to join and 5 minutes from my house. I have afternoons on Mon-Thurs from 12:30-4:00, kid free, so that is when I will go and work out. Even if I just do the treadmill and the exercise bike, it is more than I do now!

Wish me luck and keep me honest, okay guys?!

[jj]

for you Puzzled!!! I just recently hit my target weight and actually went below it a little. I got to drag out my skinny jeans!!! But I tell ya I was pretty darn chubby....O.K. , O.K. .....I was fat for a couple years and those last 5 lbs. just stuck around for ever!

Oh and Nutty Bars! My Mom and I are addicted to them. I couldn't give them up if my life depended on it...oh well maybe then and only then. Hee Hee. But I am eating much healthier like you and that did the trick. Just don't deprive yourself of anything good. You have to treat yourself once in a while. I'm pretty disciplined now ...I still have my nutty bar but only a half a waffer. It takes care of the sweet craving just enough. I never could give up my potato chips though. I still eat way too many chips and cheetos. But honestly if I didn't have them I probably would have gave up loosing the weight. I have a little bowl I put them in and when they are gone that is it! No more for the day. Before I'd just take the whole bag with me.

I wish you luck and I'll be cheering for each of those pounds you shed. I've been there so I know how difficult it is to stay away from those goodies. My Mom's doctor used to say....if it tastes good, spit it out! ROTFLMBO Oh, that isn't very encouraging, is it? But there is a lot of truth to it. I wish you oodles of luck!

[puzzled]

I have loved nutty bars since I was a middle schooler and used to stop at the grocery store on my way to school to buy one (for a quarter!!) to add to my lunch!!

I like to split the layers and eat them one layer at a time....prolongs the goodness....

Nutty bars are a big downfall.... and anything with melted cheese.......mmmmmmm

[charliegirl]

Wow Puzzled! I admire your determination.

I checked the calories in a 24 oz bottle of Mt. Dew a while ago and realized that there are 330 calories in one 24 oz Dew. When I multiplied that by the number of bottles I drink in a day, I was shocked. I get nearly as many calories from that as they recommend a female should eat if in a well balanced diet.

I still don't seem to have what it takes to cut back and I wouldn't even have to stop eating any foods, just drink less Dew. Maybe hearing you tell us about your progress is the motivation I need to get me to give up my favorite beverage.

Please, keep me updated.

[lisacap]

Maybe we could start a weight loss section, where we can come and vent or come and trade reciepes or tips on what we are and aren't able to do.
I know myself after recently having a baby I still have the extra 40 pounds on me..( OK OK OK, I know the baby is going to be 6 in 2 weeks, but in my mind he is still the baby).
I did finally convince myself to go back to Weight Watchers, after spending money and trying every other diet out there, but if we all tried to do it together, we may achieve some of the goals...just a suggestion.

[alan]

oh my gosh i make the same sad old resolution every year to try and lose the weight but i fail every time. Plus last year i stoped smoking and snacked my way back to my present weight. but this year i will try again.
Wish me luck - oh god do i need it !!!!right now im thinking of a snickers in the drawer besides me !!

[misty]

What about Diet Mt Dew?

[puzzled]

I can't stand ANY diet drinks....the aftertaste gets me every time...

My husband lives on the diet dew...he drinks a 2 liter bottle a day!! Probably trying to self medicate his ADHD subconsciously....and he is more overweight than I am, but partly because he seems to eat almost all the time, unless he is on meds....it is one of the things he liked about the concerta...he did not feel the need to be putting something in his mouth constantly, but still ate his meals.

I would rather just cut back to one a day....maybe someday I will totally quit. I have (temporarily) done it in the past with each pregnancy, and throughout the nursing stage, which for Chelsea and Chase was over a year for each. I just told myself that the baby did not need the caffeine, and it wasn't that hard.

I think the weight loss section is a great idea. I think if I had some lower calorie recipe ideas that did not involve strange, hard to find ingredients (most of them seem to...) it might be easier. And if others are keeping track, it just might keep me from slipping back into bad habits...

I am glad to hear that I am not the only Mt. Dew addict here! And I think the same, if I just cut out my dew, and exercise a bit, I should be able to eat pretty much the same as I do now...and lose enough...I like salads, and fresh fruits and veggies, so that is one hurdle I don't have to climb!

[charliegirl]

Diet Mt Dew doesn't even taste like the same drink!

They come up with more and more information on the dangers and bad side effects of artificial sweeteners, so even if I could get used to the taste, I wouldn't drink diet anything on a regular basis.

Many of the things that you supposedly become more likely to get if you use artificial sweeteners are the same things that my family is at high risk for anyway, so the extra weight is less of a risk to my health than an artificial sweetener would be.

[jj]

I have to laugh when I go to the grocery store because I see these chubby people (much like me a couple years ago) with a case of "diet soda" in their cart and then they have 4 bags of chips, 4 containers of ice cream, several kinds of cookies, pizza, sour cream and every other kind of fattening thing you can think of but by golly, they are saving calories with their soda. ROTFL I wonder if they try to rationalize....Normally I drink 7 soda's a day so if I drink diet I'll save 300 calories so I can have my box of Twinkies.

My sister that lives with me is very overweight. She is soooo in denial about how much she eats. She said she doesn't eat anymore than the average person but I pointed out to her that just the tea she drinks per day has almost a days worth of calories. (She adds cream, sugar, and evaporated milk to her tea or maybe I should say she adds a little tea to her cream, sugar, and evaporated milk.

I can laugh about this because I have been there. I know denial.