Thank you all for the warm welcomes! I know already that this forum will make the process a whole lot easier.

Well, SheriaVa, unfortunately, my boredom eating has absolutely nothing to do with actually being hungry. I eat in the car because it helps me stay awake in the morning. I eat during the day at work because "it gives me something to do" when I'm processing endless documents in our imaging environment or when I'm procrastinating working on a project.

I'm trying to only eat when I'm hungry or every 3-4 hours (whichever comes first) but that is a HARD thing to untrain. I've never been a "binge" eater, but I tend to be a "mindless" eater. I guess it's a good thing I don't smoke or I'd be a chain smoker! The one thing I am able to do consistently is get enough water. That has never been a problem.

This week hasn't been too bad. I've put more things than I care to on the "What I wish I hadn't" but I only had one soda yesterday which is the first time in a long time that I have held myself to one. Baby steps, right?

quote:

Originally posted by Smartchick:
Hello all-

I bought Kathleen's new book and the Daybook a couple of weeks ago and am going to see if maybe this time I can stick to real life changes. The longest I've ever stuck to a plan is about 3 months. I usually get bored and quit. I am a bit weird in that I know exactly what I need to do to eat healthy(been reading cookbooks and nutrition info for most of my life), I just don't seem to be able to do it. My boss is a vegetarian and has been told she needs to eat healthier so we're going to try to do this together in a sense. I'm at the heaviest I've ever been and need to lose about 75 pounds but that is a secondary concern. I mostly just want to change my eating habits and live a healthier lifestyle.

I'm a boredom eater so that is usally my downfall. I have a "desk job" with some repetetive tasks and I commute an hour each way to work so those are my danger zones. Any ideas for how to deal with that would be appreciated.

I'm a newlywed (5 months) and my husband will eat pretty much anything so no challenges there. We are going to start walking when we get home from work while dinner is reheating (I started a meal plan for May and froze a bunch of stuff to reheat so we aren't tempted to eat garbage because there's "nothing to eat".)

That said, here are my goals:

No drive thru trips on the way to/from work.
Exercise 30 minutes 3 times a week.
Limit my soda intake to 1 can per day.

Thanks in advance for all of your support!

Welcome to you! You have definitely come to the right place for support, encouragement and tips : )

I lost 75 pounds following Kathleen's approach so it really is doable! (I've kept it off for over 3 years now).

I think it's great that you have your goals mapped out, have a support system in place and that you've identified your "danger zones".

My recommendation would be to keep healthy snacks with you both for the car and at work. Things like raw veggies, air popped corn, high fiber cereal, fresh fruit, etc.... Portion control things out in baggies so you know you won't get yourself into trouble by eating too much.

quote:

Originally posted by Smartchick:
I'm a boredom eater so that is usally my downfall. I have a "desk job" with some repetetive tasks and I commute an hour each way to work so those are my danger zones. Any ideas for how to deal with that would be appreciated.

First, welcome smartchick!! Good to have you with us.

Second, regarding boredom eating, do you continue to boredom eat even when you are already full? Are you eating every 3-4 hours throughout the day? If your answers to both questions are no, then I strongly suggest you start eating regularly every 3-4 hours throughout the day. Have breakfast and then, about 3 hours later, have a piece of fruit mid-morning, then lunch, then another piece of fruit or light snack mid-afternoon, then dinner. If you keep your stomach full and satisfied, you are less likely to reach for food out of boredom. You'll also have the additional bonus of having more consistent blood sugar and metabolism rather than those spikes and dips that can leave us sagging.

I've read that snacks should have a carb component and a protein component, but I don't always get the protein in at all my snacks.

quote:

That said, here are my goals:
No drive thru trips on the way to/from work.
Exercise 30 minutes 3 times a week.
Limit my soda intake to 1 can per day.

I can SO relate about the drive thru trips. I have been working hard on that as a goal the past several months as well. Also, reducing soda is GREAT, but make sure you're adding water to replace whatever soda you would have been drinking.

Look forward to hearing more from you!
Sheri

Hello all-

I bought Kathleen's new book and the Daybook a couple of weeks ago and am going to see if maybe this time I can stick to real life changes. The longest I've ever stuck to a plan is about 3 months. I usually get bored and quit. I am a bit weird in that I know exactly what I need to do to eat healthy(been reading cookbooks and nutrition info for most of my life), I just don't seem to be able to do it. My boss is a vegetarian and has been told she needs to eat healthier so we're going to try to do this together in a sense. I'm at the heaviest I've ever been and need to lose about 75 pounds but that is a secondary concern. I mostly just want to change my eating habits and live a healthier lifestyle.

I'm a boredom eater so that is usally my downfall. I have a "desk job" with some repetetive tasks and I commute an hour each way to work so those are my danger zones. Any ideas for how to deal with that would be appreciated.

I'm a newlywed (5 months) and my husband will eat pretty much anything so no challenges there. We are going to start walking when we get home from work while dinner is reheating (I started a meal plan for May and froze a bunch of stuff to reheat so we aren't tempted to eat garbage because there's "nothing to eat".)

That said, here are my goals:

No drive thru trips on the way to/from work.
Exercise 30 minutes 3 times a week.
Limit my soda intake to 1 can per day.

Thanks in advance for all of your support!

Hi ALL,

I'm still journaling in this 52 week plan. it just seems that the part where we write "what I wish I didn't eat is " getting the most attention. Maybe it s stress (the usual blame). But on the days I don't write nothing in the wish I didn't eat part seems so scarce. Anyone else having this problem?

ttfn
Patty

quote:

Originally posted by p7eggyc:
Also, wanted to make sure you (and any other newbies who came here via the new daybook) knew there was a much bigger world on this forum beyond this folder. This is just a small part of the forum and frankly it's not as active as we all might hope. Click on Fan Forum in the top navigation bar and you will see all the posts of this very active forum.

You beat me to it, Peg! I was going to do the same thing when I first read B's response this morning but didn't have time at that moment. I wonder, because some of the newbies are only posting here and not on the board in general, if they realize that there is a whole world of helpful discussion for them to join out there. Thanks for bringing that to the forefront!

Hi B! Good job choosing to post before succumbing to a craving. I totally understand where you are coming from. You will find a lot of what I call "all-or-none thinkers" among our board members. Your statement about eating this weekend ruining what you've done this week is a good example of a phrase that indicates that kind of thinking to me. I encourage you to give yourself credit for whatever you do that is better for you and don't negate those things in your mind just because you made another choice that wasn't quite as good. If you have a little time, I encourage you to use the find button and search on 'all-or-none' and read some of the various posts that we have talked about that issue. You might find some insight.

Also, wanted to make sure you (and any other newbies who came here via the new daybook) knew there was a much bigger world on this forum beyond this folder. This is just a small part of the forum and frankly it's not as active as we all might hope. Click on Fan Forum in the top navigation bar and you will see all the posts of this very active forum. We would love to have you join us in all of our various discussions. There are homework 'captains' that most days will post some sort of discussion or action item and I really encourage you to try and post to that. There is also a group journal where you can post anything you'd like, healthy eating or not. The more you participate, the more you get out of it so just fire off responses and questions and we'll all learn from each other!

Peg

Hi B. Congrats on the new job!!! Very exciting and of course, stressful at the same time.

Can you celebrate by doing someting non-food related? Taking an outing somewhere? Treating yourself to something new to wear on your first day? If it "must" be food - how about steering towards grilled seafood or shellfish.

Personally, I wouldn't worry too much about portion sizes for fruits and veggies right now. I say eat them to your hearts content and focus your attention on staying away from the ice cream and the chocolate.

Question for you - if chocolate is too tempting, why not eliminate it from the house? I have plenty of trigger foods that are just no longer allowed at home. It makes my life much easier.

Have a great weekend!

Thanks for the welcome and friendly words P7eggyc. I am glad to see some new people joining the conversation. I have been pretty good this week. I am only on my third week and really struggled, rather poorly I might add, through the first two. I have not had ice cream for several days which I am very happy about. Ice cream is the ultimate destroyer of my willpower so I am trying very hard not to walk by it in grocery store and convince myself that I really do not need it. I am craving it and/ or chocolate right now and I've decided to stay out of the kitchen and write a posting in hopes that my craving will pass or subside a little. I think part of this is due to me starting a new job next week. I am starting to get a little nervous about it. That stress and the unhappiness I feel about my body just build and I feel helpless. I am also worried about getting through this weekend without ruining what I've done this week. We're supposed to celebrate my new job and I'm trying to figure out what I want to eat. Another thing I'm concerned about is I wonder if what I think has been good this week has actually been that good for me. Before I would have just said "oh who cares, I'm not happy with my body anyways, might as well eat what I want and try to make myself happy that way." I know that logic doesn't make any sense. So I am counting each day I stay away from the chocolate and other sugary wonders of my kitchen as a victory. I did not buy any ice cream the last time I was at the store so hopefully not having any in the house will prevent me from seeking it out.
Thank you for your time to anyone out there who is reading this. It's strange, when I joined this I thought I might check it a couple times a week and just leave it at that. For some reason, though, I feel really compelled to check it and find out if there's anyone new, how people are doing, if there's any helpful tips I can find, etc. Thank you for welcoming me to this world and putting up with my crazy ramblings. I think I'll go have a mango. By the way, is it bad to eat a whole mango myself? I'm still trying to figure out that whole portion thing in relation to having good calories but at which point the amount of good calories you are having becomes bad.

Anyways, best wishes to you all.

Welcome, Laura! I hope you've been jumping right in and reading other posts that might be helpful.

You've taken a great first step -- KD's books are a great resource. Somewhere here in the forum, someone recently posted a web article about portion sizes. Try looking that up for more info on how much a serving is. And good job on "upping the good calories." It does help you feel full.

I just bought three of your books- I am having a great time. In just a few weeks- I feel better. The recipes are great. How do I know how to figure out how much to eat. I know you don't believe in counting calories but I kind of need to know what is excessive. I try to go by the serving sizes but sometime I add the "good calories" to the recipes to bulk it up so we feel full.
Looking forward to the next 52 weeks,
Laura

Welcome B! I just wanted to say hi and thanks for a wonderful post to CosmosLove! Hope to see you posting more and more!

Peg

Welcome Cosmoslove! I'm so glad you came upon this forum! I hope some day the thought of coming here being humiliating makes you smile. You are taking steps to take care of you and that is sooo valuable. You've found what I believe to be one of the COOLEST places on the web filled with some of the best people I've ever met online. Can't imagine life without all these folks and I hope someday you feel the same.

Congratulations on quitting smoking! Wow, what an awesome accomplishment and I bet you learned some things about yourself that are going to wind up helping you on this journey too. The good news is that while that is usually a 'cold turkey' sort of thing (or at least the step down thing with assistance), healthy eating doesn't have to be that big of a change all at once.

A couple of things that I'll comment on because Bee and Sheri definitely hit on the basics of what I would tell you too.

You mention that you aren't working outside the home and you are finding that challenging. Boredom/depression eating has gotten many of us in a place we wish we weren't so I encourage you to consider some sort of change in that arena as an early baby step. Regular visits to this forum (the more you post, the more you benefit), searching the web to learn as much as you can about nutrition or exercise (if you need sites, post on the board and you'll get enough to keep you busy for months! ), reading books and healthy living magazines, other forums like this could become a baby step to fill your day while forwarding you on the journey. Finding time to learn new exercise, etc. can be a hard won victory when working outside the home. I myself got my walking habit started while unemployed following a walking program that very gradually increased in time over a 90 day period. Maybe this is the time to try something new that always seemed to 'take too much time' or just time to do something period. It is likely to help your depression too.

I wanted to also share how I got started on my journey using KD's 5 point plan. This plan gives you one point per item per day for:
1. Making one (yes, just one) good, better, best food choice. This might be something like you want to have some potato chips. The good choice would be to measure out one serving and not eating out of the bag. A better choice might be to have baked chips. A best choice might be to have baby carrots instead.
2. Doing any exercise. A walk around the block, marching in place during the commercials, whatever you can get done.
3. Drinking 64 oz. of water. If this is substantially more than you are currently doing, scale that back and work your way up over a few weeks.
4. Take 15 min of time just for you. This really varies person to person but whatever says "I'm taking care of myself" will work.
5. Accountability: This can be whatever you want but generally I think of it as either posting to the board (many of us post our food in the What's for Dinner folder here), keeping a food journal, reporting to a friend/supporter, whatever keeps you on track.

I found this to be VERY doable and I was on track very quickly. I would keep track of my points and if I got to 30 points in a week (notice I did not expect perfection to earn a reward) then I got some type of reward.

Hope that helps. Let us know how you are doing!

Peg

[QUOTE]Originally posted by cosmoslove:
I have gained so much weight since I quit smoking and then was moved to Italy with my military hubster.

Welcome Cosmoslove!
I want to say first and foremost that I am soooo happy to hear that you have quit smoking. That is such a huge step in getting healthy and caring for yourself. This says to me that you are someone who wants to be healthy and you care about making healthy choices in your life. Congratulations on making this improvement in your lifestyle.


[QUOTE]Originally posted by cosmoslove: Now I breathe heavy climbing one set of stairs... like, from the shoulders up.

I think that noticing the difficulty you are having can be a good thing for you. It can be a huge motivator. Start out the week by making it a goal to work on your breathing as you're going up a flight of stairs. Remember calm, slow breaths that do not cause you more strain. If it takes you longer to do it this way that's fine. What matters is that you're doing it. I hurt my back a couple months ago and every week is a struggle in trying to improve what activities I can. We live on the second floor, 16 steps in all, so whatever takes me outside is something very important to me. Each week I try to concentrate on my progress. One week ago I was finally able to alternate my feet going upstairs. I still have to pause and concentrate on what I'm doing each step, but I'm doing it. You can make your ultimate goal being able to walk up a flight of stairs while talking on the phone without being winded.


[QUOTE] Originally posted by cosmoslove: I have never shared in a weight forum before, so I am basically humiliated that I have reduced myself to where I have got myself. But, I know I need help.


All of us had to start somewhere and I think we would all say that we have benefited somehow from these forums. You cannot believe how many people out there have the same thoughts, fears, and experiences as you. It's almost scary how normal it makes you. I only joined about a week ago and I am sooo happy that I have, even though I gave myself a C- for my first week (I met the ice cream monster). I have felt so much support and friendship from people that I have only heard from once or twice. I feel with some threads that I am a witness to some very private and meaningful discussions.

You should feel very proud about the steps you have made thus far. You have made the awesome decision to quit smoking, you are becoming more aware of your body which can only lead to wanting to improve it, and you have taken the step to open yourself up to new friends. I think that you can really learn a lot from the people on this site. Let yourself explore and learn from the gifts here. You could try rewarding yourself with postings every time you don't smoke. Try new things and figure out what makes you happy and go with that.

Good luck!

quote:

Originally posted by cosmoslove:
Hi, I'm new.
I got Kathleen's book of recipes and saw that she had a "planner" book as well. I have gained so much weight since I quit smoking and then was moved to Italy with my military hubster. This is a country (in the North anyway) where the majority of women do NOT work. For me, being forced to stay at home has led to depression-eating. Plus, my attitude is in the sewer. Mindsets like, "who cares! I'm SICK of having to have watched my weight my whole life! I'm going to eat what I WANT!"
And I did.
Now I breathe heavy climbing one set of stairs and I totally avoid mirrors - which really isn't that hard in Italy, because all mirrors are like, from the shoulders up. They're for tall people because everyone in Northern Italy is over 6 foot tall. Not me. I'm 5'2.
I have never shared in a weight forum before, so I am basically humiliated that I have reduced myself to where I have got myself. But, I know I need help.
I'm not sure how to start, so I've been checking out how you guys got started, but you all seem way out of my league.
I will just keep on keeping on. One thing I do have going for me is that I am stubborn as a mule when I make up my mind about something.
For consistent healthy weight loss, though -- what do I do? I can't just take a few drags off of 20 cigarettes every day to keep the weight down..?
Take care, all.

Welcome to you from me too! Please don't be intimidated or feel like the folks here are in a "different league"! While we are on different parts of the journey, we all started someplace.

When I began, I could barely march in place for 5 minutes before getting winded. Just do what you can and build from there.

I started out by cutting down on my portion sizes first and just trying to be a bit more active.

I would echo the advice of reading the "baby steps" threads.

You don't want to turn your world upside down all at once. Make small changes and once they are comfortable, take on some new ones.

PS My mom was born and raised in Venice and her entire side of the family is short. I'm the tallest at 5'3 so I was really surprised to hear your comment that Northern Italians are so tall : )

quote:

Originally posted by cosmoslove:
I'm not sure how to start, so I've been checking out how you guys got started, but you all seem way out of my league.

First, welcome!

Second, way out of your league?!?! In what way? We are all just trying to do our best every day...sometimes succeeding, sometimes not...but just trying to keep it going. There are people here who have lost their weight and have been in maintenance a few years. There are people here who have been in the process of losing weight for a long time (like myself) and there are people just starting to figure it all out (like you). There are people of all kinds here and none of us are out of your league unless you want to look at it that way. If you will stay open to the possibilities that these people and this forum can bring to you, you will benefit greatly, I assure you!

quote:

For consistent healthy weight loss, though -- what do I do?

You could sit down and talk individually with 50 people here and they'd all have their own take on "what do I do?" but there are some common threads among most of us and I think these are among them (I'll also bump up the Baby Steps 101 threads for you--please look for them on the forum list).

1. Baby steps. Don't try to tackle every change at once. Phase them in every few days or once a week or you will find yourself so overwhelmed that you'll give up and quit.

2. Drink your water. Gotta drink your water! That's not coffee and that's not soda. It's water. 8-10 glasses a day.

3. Move it. Gotta find a way burn some calories on a regular basis. Even if it's just a lovely stroll through the Italian countryside (or a city park, if that's your situation), you'll still be burning more calories than sitting still. You don't have to kill yourself with cardio 5 days a week but you do need to move.

4. Portion control. This wasn't a major problem for me, but many folks here say it was their #1 problem. If eating too-large portions is a problem for you, you may want to invest in a food scale and some measuring cups to weigh and measure your food for a while until you get a really good idea of what a real serving size is.

5. Clean environment. If at all possible, get rid of tempting high-fat snack foods and such in your kitchen and pantry. If it's not easily available, you will have to work to actually go get it if you want it that badly.

Good luck!!
Sheri

Hi, I'm new.
I got Kathleen's book of recipes and saw that she had a "planner" book as well. I have gained so much weight since I quit smoking and then was moved to Italy with my military hubster. This is a country (in the North anyway) where the majority of women do NOT work. For me, being forced to stay at home has led to depression-eating. Plus, my attitude is in the sewer. Mindsets like, "who cares! I'm SICK of having to have watched my weight my whole life! I'm going to eat what I WANT!"
And I did.
Now I breathe heavy climbing one set of stairs and I totally avoid mirrors - which really isn't that hard in Italy, because all mirrors are like, from the shoulders up. They're for tall people because everyone in Northern Italy is over 6 foot tall. Not me. I'm 5'2.
I have never shared in a weight forum before, so I am basically humiliated that I have reduced myself to where I have got myself. But, I know I need help.
I'm not sure how to start, so I've been checking out how you guys got started, but you all seem way out of my league.
I will just keep on keeping on. One thing I do have going for me is that I am stubborn as a mule when I make up my mind about something.
For consistent healthy weight loss, though -- what do I do? I can't just take a few drags off of 20 cigarettes every day to keep the weight down..?
Take care, all.

It's fun to see the new people posting. Living in a tulip field must be beautiful.

I spent today tearing out weeds in my garden and I already got in a run. I am down a few pounds since my latest "new start" a few weeks ago. I got into the 160s this morning for the first time in months. Before that I had been bouncing around 172, 170, 172.5, 171... I'm hoping to keep the numbers going down for a while.

With the food, it's baby steps. Trying to set a time when the kitchen closes is one small step I'm working on, adding back in more veggies and remembering to plan healthy meals is another. Trying new grocery stores now and then helps get me out of the rut of buying the same old things all the time. For a while I was following KD's tip of one new veggie on every shopping trip -- that would be a good one for me to start back up.

Hey B, the tulips are great! Of course the rain will deter a few tourists...oh darn We live right in the middle of tulip fields so it can be a crazy time of year.

Do you have a food scale? I use mine to weigh meats, cheese and even a serving of chips. I also use measuring cups/spoons quite a bit. I even bought an extra set of both so I could leave some in certain foods (like cereal, oatmeal, rice, etc).

I agree that adding healthier choices to your menus is a great way to start. That is how I started and I did that for about 8 months and lost 40 pounds. I then got more serious about the exercise and portions. It took me another 16 months to lose the last 43 pounds. My motto this time was "slow and steady wins the race". I have kept it off for over a year now and can't see myself falling off the wagon again.

I try to make a new recipe at least once a week and then there are times I go a few months without trying a new recipe. Just do what is best for you and your hubby.

When I first started I loved going grocery shopping and trying new healthier choices. I find it harder now, but when I do find something new I still get excited! It keeps it fun for me