Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION The Anywhere Machine Dieters Support Thread

Way to go, Povvins!!

I apologize for my breakdown, but yesterday I realized I had been weeks without anything sweet (other than a few sweet liquids).

I fought the temptation as best I could, but broke down after work and went to the store.

I eyeballed the Hostess snack cakes-- I admit I could easily be addicted to the orange, chocolate and new apple cupcakes. I eyeballed the vanilla Zingers which I also love.

Then I spotted the individual oatmeal creme pies for only a quarter each and went with those.

I must admit the truth, feeling the yummy sugar and delicious oatmeal cookie melt in my mouth was semi-orgasmic.

But I'll be back on track today.

Heck, what's the harm in treating yourself once every couple of weeks...?

A momentary lapse is a respite for the spirit, not a weakness. We all need our breaks! They keep us STRONG!

And Stuey... as long as it's not Famous Amos, buddy, that's all I have to say...

I had a brief fling with Famous Amos in college. But we don't talk about that.

From what I've read, there's no harm - actually it appears to be good for you to go off the diet for a day every two or three weeks. It fools your body out of starvation mode and prevents you from plateauing. So stop beating yourself up, Lash.

I have to echo Semi's comment, Lash. In fact, if you are eating really healthy food most of the time, "cheat meals" (or snacks) are actually encouraged. They keep you from going nuts from deprivation. This past week ended up being a "not that dedicated" week for me. Problem #1, I drank a LOT last Saturday night. This meant on Sunday, I wanted salty, fatty (hangover) food. I gave myself those days off. However, I only went to the gym on Wed and Fri. My food intake was what I'd call "normal" all week. No extra junk, but I didn't eat lightly or especially healthier. On Friday, I got back on track. The elliptical trainer is my buddy!

My workout on Wed was a fitness evaluation. Turns out I score "excellent" at cardio! That's a relief...BUT I scored "poor" at crunches, pushups and flexibility. My bodyfat percentage (measured with that nasty calliper) was in the worst of 4 categories (I forget the actual wording). So, I have lots of work to do to improve. I keep wondering how bad it would have been if I had done my eval before I'd started this recent wave of exercising and food management?

Uh oh, the dieting support seems to be fading...

I have succumbed to the siren song of goth M&Ms...

I've been very good with avoiding the snacks and exercising, but I take holidays off.

Valentine's Day, Flag Day, Heritage Day (?), Ash Wednesday ... that's it for February, according to my calendar. Isn't there a President's Day (cherry pie!) and they forgot to list Shrove Tuesday (pancakes).

Seriously, I think you have to take some breaks, unless you're suffering from some serious health problem which demands a rigorous diet. One guy I like for diet advice (Dr. Gabe Mirkin) advocates 19 out of 21 meals a week on plan - the other two, eat whatever you want, just don't go overboard. This helps a lot, you can eat out a couple times a week without feeling guilty or trying to get special orders.

FC, thanks for your words of wisdom. I had a cookie this morning (they were sitting there in the office kitchen crying out to me). I feel much less guilty now. Being around the half century mark, I've really been making an effort to "not go quietly" into middle age. During my twenties and thirties, I was a real gym rat - 6 times a week. In my forties, I slacked off. It took a while for my indolence to have its affect, but it did eventually. Now I've gotten back into excercising (6 times a week at 6:00 a.m. before work) and I'm very careful about what I eat and the size of the portions. I've also given up alcohol (don't tell the patrons of SHAKES). I've dropped 20 lbs. so far and firmed up. The best thing is that I have so much more energy. Let's keep this thread going and support each other's efforts.

It's a sad fact that most of us have to eat less as we get older - or exercise more. Usually the combination of both is best. Apart from the natural resilience of youth, I'd bet I'm in much better shape now than I was at 18, when I ate a lot of junk food, sweets, got no exercise, smoked and drank.

And congrats on -20 lbs. That's no small feat!

*sigh* I'm stalled at 187 lbs, and haven't been putting the effort in these last couple of weeks. Where's the support, folks?

With Valentine's Day and whatnot, I've actually *gained* seven pounds in the last couple of weeks.

Those whatnots are killers.... hard to avoid, too.

Weight fluctuates naturally throughout the day, and from day to day, which is why weighing yourself daily can be misleading. Home scales can be affected by humidity, the type of surface they're placed on... not to make excuses for anyone, but the fit of your clothes is often a better indication than the actual weight.

It's also normal to stall for a while - don't use it as an excuse to give up or hit the dessert cart! Your metabolism adjusts; sometimes you do have to increase, or even change, your exercise. Starving yourself is the worst thing to do; your body just goes into conservation mode and slows right down. Just stay on track and you should start to lose weight again.

Of course, there's a natural weight for people, too - much as I'd like to get down to 120, the only times I've approached that is with diet pills (never again, didn't sleep for six weeks) or when my mother was dying of cancer (very very stressful). So I settle for 130, it's obtainable through healthy means - and sustainable.

I've been eating what I consider "normal" food, meaning not extraordinarily healthy choices, but no more of my worst habits, like McDonald's and the Chinese deli case at the grocery store. I've been regularly going to the gym, doing the elliptical trainer and nautilus machines and stretching. As I sit here right now, I don't feel much different than when I started all this. It's a bit discouraging. It seems like I need to be really really strict with food in order to see a change and I need to work really really hard in the gym. This is why the "healthy" lifestyle doesn't ever seem to stick with me. However, I'm not giving up. Rather than focus on what I can't be eating, I'm going to go ahead and stick with the "reasonable" meals I've been having and I'll continue my regular routine at the gym. I think that this "slow and steady" method of fitness will be worth it in the long run. I guess I wish I was seeing those rippling abs right now, which is unrealistic.

Cramey, you make a good point about sustainable weight. Several years ago, I went on a low/zero-fat diet (I ate stuff like all sorts of veggies and tuna packed in water-- EVERY DAY) and within a couple of months was the skinniest I'd ever been, like about 155 lbs. Of course, THAT didn't last!


*MOAN OF REGRET!*

Fine, I admit I fell off the wagon and ballooned back up to 199 lbs!!

So 2 days ago, I put myself on a low-carbs diet and this morning weighed 196, so-- so far so good.

I chose the low-carbs diet because the food is yummier than on the zero-fat diet I was on and you can eat plenty OF food, something I've decided I need. Don't like that starvation crap anymore.

The drawback to this low-carbs diet is, well, I love potaotes, pasta and bread, plus eating all that meat gets to me after a while.

So I made the decision to be on this diet ONE WEEK and see how much weight I can lose. I'll decide what to do next from there.

Jiminy Jillikers!!

Weighed this morning, which is the start of Day 3 on the low-carbs and weighed in at 194!! PROGRESS!!!

If this rate of weight loss continues and I don't start feeling crappy, I'll continue the low-carbs beyond a week!

I'm starting my popcorn diet tonight... Fresh, air-popped popcorn with no salt or butter for dinner, with 2-3 glasses of water-- and no snacks between then and bedtime!

Let us know how it works, Povvins!

MAN am I glad SUBWAY joined in the Low-Carb dieting craze!

Those new low-carb wraps are FANtastic!!! And I don't have to feel guilty!!!

Those SUBWAY low-carb wraps *are* really tasty, but I wish they were bigger! I ate one yesterday in like three bites...

Sounds like a good plan! Speaking of water, I think one can lose weight just by drinking only water and skim milk -- by cutting juices and sodas completely out of one's diet... (which I find hard to do)...

See, that's the thing, Stu, with the low carb diet-- you can get one of EACH wraps and it's only 19 carbs. Have no more carbs the rest of the day (pretty darn easy to do) and you're SET!

I did this yesterday and STILL lost a pound. I weighed in this morning at 193-- I am a happy dieter. I celebrated by going BACK for 2 MORE wraps!! *tee hee!*

TIPS FOR CARB CUTTING:

Craving a sandwich? Go ahead and stack up all your favorite goodies-- but instead of making the sandwich on BREAD, make it on LETTUCE LEAVES. Drastically reduces the carbs and tastes good too!

I've been thinking of trying these. And I do need to lose some weight and get into better shape for July. Otherwise I'm not going to be able to make it around the Con very well.

As soon as the weather clears up here we are going to start walking around the block every night. But man, cutting out carbs. I just don't know. If I could just live on bread and pasta it would be great. Heck with the stomach problems I've had lately most days all I can eat is bread.

I haven't tried them yet for just that reason, but I should. They sound pretty good.

The SUBWAY wraps are surprisingly filling. I find that just one hits the spot. My favorite - roasted chicken breast, swiss cheese, dijon horse-radish sauce, tomato, cucumber, onion, olives and green-pepper.

Weight this morning: stll 193, so nothing lost or gained yesterday.

I've kept my carb count minimal today (NO wraps, I think I'll make that a weekends-only treat) so we'll see what tomorrow brings!