Need to drop some weight...

[LBTC]

I know nothing about weight watchers, but totally think the concept of flex points is the right thing to do! you should not and can not cut out all the things that could be fattening for you. if you do you are sure to succumb at some point. the trick is to eat your favourite extravagences in moderation....and choose the best bang for your buck....nutritionally speaking. I can easily resist many types of milk chocolate, yet I eat chocolate almost every day (and stay slim) I found a chocolate bar called Cloud Nine that's dark chocolate, made with cane sugar or something, not refined, no chemicals, just good chocolate. only bring with you a very small amount. eat it slowly. it does satisfy....I've heard there's an 80/20 rule. 80% of the time you need to eat as healthy as you possibly can. 20% of the time you can eat whatever you want. And the more healthy food you eat, the healthier your choices on the whatever you want will naturally become. Never, ever, give up and say, oh, well, I blew it and ate 3 cookies, I might as well eat the whole bag. eating a bit more, or eating the stuff you'd hoped not to, does not make you a failure. it's just a blip. it's like not making it over a log crossing you usually make. it's like not quite making your hill climb best time every time out. it happened, don't beat yourself up, get back on track.

I also have a theory that the counting calories / burning calories thing needs to balance out over about 2 1/2 days, not just one day. I think my body is still recovering from an intense workout a day or more after it happened, therefore, the balance of what I eat needs to be over a longer period of time...I don't actually count the calories, but, if I'm very active, I do increase how much I eat, and ensure that lots of it is protein. If I find for some reason that I can't be as active as normal (like having strep throat. blech) I reduce my overall intake and make the best food choices I can. soup, anyone?

I think I'd better go do something else. you guys are going to get soo tired of me!!

Namaste,
~T~

[AutumnBreez]

I have found since I have cut soda at the end of last year, refined sugars, dairy products, white flour/bread and began an adventure with living foods (raw foods) I have more energy and have lost 12 pounds. Now I am adding in the cycling and expect to widdle down, maybe not so much the weight as the size of my body should slim down.
You don't have to eat as much of raw as you do cooked to feel full, the body does not have to work as hard in finding the enzymes, less stress more energy.
If you eat nuts or seeds, remember to soak them like you would beans, without heat (not blanching), before eating them. They have enzyme inhibitors that have to be tricked into being released so your body can digest them easier. I have seen so much success from my forum buddies without trying to lose, it happens anyway.
Doctors recommend this treatment to cancer patients, why wait till you get it?! My plan, to eat raw, fill my lungs with fresh country air, and cycle long. Yep, this is the life!

[AutumnBreez]

Ok, I lost the weight but I am bringing in other foods because it is not enough of a boost for cycling.

[jobob]

A strange thing has happened to me in the last few months. It seems like my metabolism has changed, or perhaps my stomach has shrunk, but I just don't seem to get hungry as much anymore, and when I do, I feel full after consuming less food than I used to. And I hardly ever snack between meals anymore.

Ever since I got braces (just on my lower teeth) I've had to chew verrry slowly and deliberately - I'm now officially the World's Slowest Eater - but I think eating so slowly has made a huge difference. That and the fact that some foods just don't seem to taste as good to me as they used to, particularly sweet things, which might be due to some foods interacting w. the metal to give them a slightly off taste. And I just don't seem to crave them anymore. Plus, every time I eat something between meals I'm faced with the prospect of getting the remnants out of my braces - I generally carry a little travel toothbrush with me, but just the thought of having to run off to brush my teeth makes me stop and think 'do I really want this?' , and more often than not I realize, eh, notsomuch. Either that or I'll opt for a yogurt, rather than a muffin or some cookies.

The offshoot is, since the beginning of the year I've dropped another 10 lbs without really trying , so I'm now at my "ultimate goal" weight of 140 - heck, I'm even within 5 lbs of the weight on my driver's license, which I haven't been in, um, over 20 years .

And you should see my clothes, LOL! It seems those last 10 lbs made a big difference in my pants size, I had to go out and buy a few new pairs of pants & jeans (size 10 jeans & a pair of size 8 dress pants, woo woo - never thought I'd see that) because my 12's and 14's were just entirely too baggy (though my husband said they look very gangsta on me, heh). And I even had to buy new cycling shorts - L's became too L.

I still sometimes eat what a lot of people would consider junk, but Irulan, you're right, I really don't crave the junk food anymore, and even when I eat the junk, I eat much less of it. But I still won't refuse an In-N-Out burger if it's offered to me - I just might not eat the whole thing, or pass on the fries . And I still have 2 boxes of relatively untouched Girls Scout cookies in my office - once in a while I'll have one cookie, and that's it - that's so unlike me, LOL.

I just hope that once the braces come off (in theory before the end of the year) I won't go crazynutso and go back to my old eating habits but I don't think that will happen, I really like how I look nowadays.

[Allie1DukeFn]

I actually went to a nutrionist to help me with weight loss. One of the best things she did was do the test to determine my resting metabolic rate. Basically how many calories my body will burn in a day if I do nothing but sit on my rear end. Mine was 1,700. So we came up with an eating plan that was between 1,200 and 1,400 a day. I've been consistently losing about a pound a week. Down 18 lbs, 7 more to go!

The other thing that really seems to have made a difference is eating ~something~ about every 2 hours. Even if it is just a sugar free jello. If you aren't constantly feeding your body - your body thinks it needs to conserve energy and goes into starvation mode and your metabolism doesn't burn any fat. If you are constantly giving yourself energy - your metabolism keeps chugging along.

We also found an AMAZING cookbook from the American Heart Association! It has these really great recipes that sound totally weird but somehow everything just turns out tasting really great! Like putting shredded zucchini into meatloaf! Who would have thunk it? But it's fabulous! If you're interested they have sample recipes on the web site at - http://www.americanheart.org/present...tifier=3031321

The book is "The No Fad Diet" It really works well - my hubby is even happy with the recipes. Doesn't even realize he is eating healthy! We also started using the Barilla Plus pasta. It is kind of a compromise between regular and whole wheat.

[Blueberry]

It has these really great recipes that sound totally weird but somehow everything just turns out tasting really great! Like putting shredded zucchini into meatloaf!

Allie1DukeFn-

I have to second the recommendations for the heart association cookbooks! I have an older one that I purchased off ebay which is wonderful!

I have used the zucchini trick with some frequency, though I don't think this cookbook is where I got the idea. One of my favorite treats are zucchini turkey burgers. Shred a zucchini, add ground turkey, an egg and I add some terryaki sauce. Delicious! I'd rather have those than a "real burger" any day!

If only eating healthy didn't cost more and take up so much more time, I'd be all set!

[oldbikah]

[QUOTE=Allie1DukeFn]I actually went to a nutrionist to help me with weight loss. One of the best things she did was do the test to determine my resting metabolic rate. Basically how many calories my body will burn in a day if I do nothing but sit on my rear end. Mine was 1,700. QUOTE]

That is great! I have never been to a nutrionist and would love to know HOW the metabolic rate is actually tested. This summer I have been following weight watchers and have lost 20 pounds so far, 10 more to go. I agree wholeheartedly with all the dieters who say "eat little, and often" as it makes a huge difference to me, plus the concept "no exercise, no weight loss". Also I do not find that it costs me anymore $ to eat healthy. Junk food ain't cheap!

The Weight Watchers website also has some good recipes anyone would like, and they are all generally easy to do.

[Allie1DukeFn]

You have to fast for 4 hours before you do it. There is this little machine you breath into for I think it is about 15 minutes. The machine records something from how you're breathing in a resting state and then does the calculation. I've got a brochure at home - I'll see if it gives any more technical details about the process and post.