Dieting success

[Medikor]

Congratulations on your success, Cass! I've been watching my weight too. I haven't actually looked at a scale in ages but I feel healthier and whenever I see my mom she's always going on about how much weight I'm loosing.
I don't go out of my way, but I do try to eat less junk food and more juice and water. I still enjoy hearty meals like a good ol' BBQ full of steak and potatoes but I try to limit my intake. I used to have 2 steaks and 2-3 potatoes, for example. Now I usually have 1 steak and 1-2 potatoes.
And I eat healthier breakfasts too. Cheerio's and bran cereals are my breakfast of choice and is usually followed by a bagel and coffee for lunch. I'm really going to have to get that scale out... I do splurge and eat more some days, though. Again, congrats, Cass!

[Cassini90125]

Thanks. I do that, too, splurge once in awhile. Sometimes you've gotta say "Oh the heck with it" and indulge yourself. The last time I did that was just a few nights ago, when I went to one of our local restaurants and plowed through a large pile of fried clams and an even larger pile of steak fries. There's a bit of a guilty feeling after doing something like that, but an occasional indulgence is okay, I think, as long as you don't make a habit of it. I checked my weight the day after, and it was actually lower than before the meal, albeit by only a quarter or a half a pound or so. Still, it's nice to smirk and think that I got away with something.

[Medikor]

Oh definitely! I've been feeling kinda guilty because for the last two days I've been eating more cookies then I should be. But I have been doing some sit-ups and eating healthy meals so I don't think those three big, soft, doughy, chocolaty cookie's will hurt too much... *right eye and leg twitches*

[Sparky]

My problem is with portion control (it's definitely not exercise, I bike about 10 miles several times a week and my doctor says that's excellent). So I'm buckling down starting today and cooking a whole bunch of meat, brown rice, and veggies and portioning it all out by the ounce in divided containers. Thing is I'm also an insulin-dependent diabetic, and if I don't eat *enough* it's bad. So sometimes I have to eat more than I should just so I don't...you know...have to go to the hospital. I'd be happy if I just stop *gaining* weight at this point, even if I don't lose any.

[scary_dream]

Yeah, portion control is important because as food portions get huger and huger, so do our appetites. Food companies need to realize that we aren't BEARS and we don't need all of the food they're pushing at us!! It's so easy to overeat whenever things are like that.

I knew that if I wanted to get healthy and/or lose weight, I'd have to cut back on portions, too. A problem of mine was, because I work in a restaurant where there is no such thing as a "lunch break", scarfing food. At work, I have to wolf down food if I want to eat it while it's still hot and not have to get up and wait on customers in the middle of my meal. I'd end up eating way more than I needed to because my stomach didn't realize it was full until it was too late (it takes about 30 minutes to feel the full effects of a meal!) I cut back on portions, and while I still wolf down food out of habit, I found out I need to stop while I still feel a tiny bit hungry so that when my stomach catches up to my brain, I'll feel satisfied but not overstuffed.

[Medikor]

I had had to "luck out" and get my traits from my mom's side of the family while my brothers got my dad's. They can eat as much of whatever they want and not gain a single pound. Our natural physiques are different in the fact that they're twigs and I'm a big guy, but it certainly is annoying that their food doesn't catch up to them.
I eat much healthier then my first brother (lots of bread, carrots, juice and yogurt) while roughly 80% of what he eats is literally what he buys at the local pizza parlor and Chinese restaurant. The main key that I need is more exercise. Right now it's summer, the time of year that I spend most of my time in doors to escape the heat. But I do a lot of walking in the spring and fall.

[lucyrocks73]

The hardest part for me IS self-control. And the fact that I'm Italian and pasta and every variation of it is usually in my house.

And I'm a chocoholic. I swear, I can inhale about 5 Hershey kisses in 30 seconds (okay, I don't actually know that... but you get my drift).

I don't eat terribly, but exercising can be an issue. I mean, I'm a pretty avid dancer and in the studio about three or four hours a week. And there's the daily hour or two of DDR that keeps me occupied. But I really need to stop staring at my computer screen and run a few miles.

Then there's the pressure of LOOKING like a dancer, and LOOKING like I belong on stage (I love to act- I'm in every play and musical).

And I'm only 4 ft 11, which doesn't help.

So... I guess I can keep trying...

-Marty

[Medikor]

Originally Posted by lucyrocks73

Then there's the pressure of LOOKING like a dancer, and LOOKING like I belong on stage (I love to act- I'm in every play and musical).
-Marty

Don't think like that. Some of the best and most famous performers in the world are big people. It's all just an unrealistic vision of perfection that the media has made for performers. Trying to look nice is one thing, but many people really hurt themselves by trying to lose pounds that just aren't there by purging and so on. I personally try to lose weight for my health. The extra notches on my belt are just a plus.

[Cassini90125]

Speaking of which, I had to drill a new hole in my belt the other day. Since I started this thread, I've lost an additional 9 pounds, give or take a pound, probably because I recently switched from orange juice to diet iced tea. Doing so eliminated about 800 calories per day from my diet.

[Medikor]

Originally Posted by Cassini90125

Speaking of which, I had to drill a new hole in my belt the other day. Since I started this thread, I've lost an additional 9 pounds, give or take a pound, probably because I recently switched from orange juice to diet iced tea. Doing so eliminated about 800 calories per day from my diet.

Really? I would have thought that orange juice would have been better for than iced-tea. Do oranges naturally have sugar in them or something?