January encouragement

[SoonerTexan]

I'm breaking out the 1st of 3 Yoga Groupons tomorrow at 6 am. This was a bad week. I had at least a little bit of sugar every day, and I skipped both of my morning runs with the class. Crappity Crap.

That 9 mile long run AT 6 AM in 30 DEGREES on Sunday morning is going to suck suck suck suck suck. Last time I got so cold by mile 6 I felt like my body couldn't heat itself up anymore.

[v-girl]

I'm sucking. Stress about the stupid water heater and staying at my mom's is getting to me. I didn't record most of my food for the day. It's pathetic.

[PrincessFiona]

Veronica. Start by just recording exercise then and make a small goal. Walk 15 mins/day. That's it.

There is no such thing as sucking at it. Weight loss is a journey with it's ups and downs. Don't beat yourself up.

Kris

[ides]

I'm having a hard time keeping under my calorie allowance. Although I'm no where near starvation I'm used to eating a lot more and am hungry a lot. I'm sticking with healthy foods but the calories add up so quick. This eating less is hard!

[MissCrabette]

I don't want to jinx myself, but I've been working out every single day this year. In the past I started big by tracking all my calories in and out, and I always burned out and failed miserably. This time I'm not tracking my food, although I am mindful of my food choices. I'm trying to make this a lifestyle change and something I can keep up in the long run.

[HouseofWool]

Tonight I completely fell off the bandwagon - as in I can't even see it today. Oh well, I guess that is partially because I have been doing so well for the last few days - too much deprivation. Tomorrow is another day (thank god)!

[scarlett09]

I'm having a hard time keeping under my calorie allowance. Although I'm no where near starvation I'm used to eating a lot more and am hungry a lot. I'm sticking with healthy foods but the calories add up so quick. This eating less is hard!

This is me too! Obviously have not logged anything into loseit.com since Thursday night. I was bummed about some news that I got at school, plus I figured that I was blowing my calorie count by eating at a Middle Eastern restaurant on Friday night and eating at the game yesterday.

[GreyhoundsRUs]

I had two "bad" days this week - faculty Christmas party and interview dinner for DH's department...

The mental trick that I use is that when I exercise, it "gives" you more calories to consume I also try and focus on the overall weekly information - since the weight wasn't put on in a day, it shouldn't come off in a day, either!

[Michele]

In the beginning I had a really hard time with the calorie restrictions. Left to my own devices I can easily (and regularly) consume 3000-4000 calories a day. So cutting to 2000 was a huge cut to me. I PMed Kris daily to whine about how hungry I was.

One thing that works for me is to eat a small but nutritious breakfast, with the plan to snack later. I eat two sausage patties (either the vegetarian ones from Morningstar or homemade turkey patties). It's about 200 calories and a ton of protein. I'm going to be hungry again in 2 hours regardless, so that way I get my protein in (I don't like eating meat and tend to be low on protein). Then if i want cookies or a muffin or popcorn, I don't feel guilty bc there are still calories and I already had something nutritious. Sometimes I scramble an egg or two if I have the time.

Another thing that worked for me is to drink a glass of water when I get hungry and then tell myself I have to wait 10-15 minutes, then decide what to eat. So I chug the water really fast and pace waiting for the time to go by. Usually when time is up I'm less hungry bc the water is now filling my stomach, and I've totally over thought all food choices that I decide on something small and healthy just to be done with it.

I also tried to keep myself really busy the first few weeks. Lots of tasks to keep me too busy to eat or think about it too much. My house was nice and clean! Keeping the kitchen clean helps decrease my desire to cook up smacks. I don't want to dirty pots and the sink just to eat something.... Laziness at it's best!

And finally, I started watching my fiber intake. On the loseit app you can track nutrients and I track fat, fiber and protein. When I first started logging I consistently had 1.5 times as much fat as protein and less than 10-15g fiber. Rec is closer to 25. As I started trying to get more protein than fat and get my fiber over 20g, I noticed I was less hungry.


It took a few weeks for me to adjust to the decreased calories, but now I can "feel" it when I eat more than 400 calories in a sitting and I don't like the way it feels anymore. Even if it's all paved into a small muffin, I can still tell.

[Michele]

Oh and if I has bad days, I tried really hard to remind myself that each morning I woke with a clean slate and could try again.

[Chrisada]

Michelle brought up to good points: water and fiber. I drink about four liters of water a day and take fiber pills with it. A washed out spaghetti jar is 1 liter. I literally walk around my house with a jar of water.

[MissCrabette]

Michele, those were some great points. I also try to drink more water and I keep a glass by me throughout the day. I love how you look at the new day being a clean slate. I try my best each day, and tomorrow's a new day and I can have another go at it.

I know some of you are trying to cut out sweets. I've been having oatmeal for breakfast for a few days now, but today I woke up and I decided I'd treat myself to 2 slices of toast with Nutella and a glass of milk. I usually love it, but this time I found it disgustingly sweet. That may not work for everyone, but tastes can probably change. Of course, I doubt I could ever say no to a bag of salt and vinegar chips, which is why I don't buy them.

[ides]

Those are great tips Michele! I'm pretty sure I was easily taking in 3-4,000 calories before too. I track fat, protein, carbs & sugar on loseit too. I haven't given up sugar completely. I still have sugar in my coffee & will put honey on plain yogert but thats it. I'm also trying to make sure what I eat is nutritionaly dense to get the biggest bang for the calories.

Day by day.

[SoonerTexan]

Some good links:

http://www.eatingwell.com/ LOVE their recipes

http://www.healthytippingpoint.com/ Though I don't aim to be a vegetarian like her, I love this girls blog. She has some great eating and fitness tips but I just like her outlook (optimism combined with realism) in general

Anybody use Sparkpeople? I've been tracking with them since October.

[Meenah]

I posted for the firswt time on lose it today. I have to get used to the website, hope it gets easier/quicker.