The Soap Yard

light · Senior Member

For Meggie...

meggie · Senior Member

Thanks, light. The battle continues....

FormerLurkerLibby · Senior Member

Canned water packed albacore with a dab of olive oil mayo and dash of Penzey Spices "Sunny Spain" which is lemon pepper seasoning without the salt. In a BeefSteak Tomato. Now that's living, and proof of a God!

karenkfc · Senior Member

hey meggie, how's the diet going? I'm joining you in the battle. Went for my annual physical, and between my doctor's nagging and my realization that my weight was causing me so many physical problems, I decided it was time to do something about it.

I found a neat website - diet.com. It has an online tool that lets you record what you eat in a day, adds the calories, it's kinda cool. I also found a good website that tells you, based on your weight, height, age and activity level, how many calories you should be consuming in a day.

I have no idea what I weigh. I'm going on the "how I feel" scale. I have a really cute pair of shorts I'd like to fit into before my cruise in November. I have a few fancier dresses I'd like to be able to take with me, that don't quite fit just yet. I also don't want to feel like deleting all the photos of me on the cruise, for once I'd like proof that I was actually there! When my brother's family went on a cruise, they had a really nice family portrait taken. I'd like to do the same thing.. and feel good about the picture.

Here's the real kicker.... in September I have an old boyfriend coming to stay with me for a few days. I have gained so much weight since the last time he saw me, I'd like to feel a little bit better before he arrives in 2 months.

I know that Summer Shedders is normally FOR summer, but no reason it can't be DURING summer!

meggie · Senior Member

I'm down 13lbs. since May 25 and I'd like to lose another 20. We have a cruise to Hawaii leaving Sept. 18 and that is the goal. I find South Beach works for me and I'm in Phase 2 but very careful of the carbs I eat. I love fruit and have to be careful since the calories can really add up.

I'm basically a healthy eater anyways-lean meat and fish, lots of fruit and veggies, whole grain bread and I drink skim milk with not a lot of processed food at any time so losing weight is a challenge. I stick to South Beach and just decide if any of the temptations are worth the calories. Most times they aren't and I find I'd rather see the numbers on the scale go down than have the treat. I was very sedentary over the winter so I've ramped up the exercise and now walk 3 miles at least four times a week. It's basically the old adage of fewer calories in and more calories out, and the weight is coming off gradually.

Diet.com sounds like a good way to keep track. Best of luck with your weight loss.

light · Senior Member

I'm there with you. Once I hit menopause, the weight just seemed to jump on so I have been battling it since then. It seems to be pretty stubborn about coming off and I seem to find myself on plateaus where I maintain for months... but mom started losing weight and said it was because she started adding mid morning and mid afternoon protein snacks so I tried it... and guess what? It's coming off! Yeah!~ Who'd have thought eating more would make me weigh less? The key, though, for me is to keep track of calories so that I take the calories of my snacks out of the day's total, and also adding exercise does wonders to bring it down even if it's little by little. I'm down 13 lbs but have such a long way to go yet.

I like to use http://www.livestrong.com/thedailyplate You have to register for the site but it's free and has some pretty nice features even for the free selection. It will record my calories for me from a big database of foods but it also keeps records of what I eat frequently so that I can just go and check off what I've eaten without having to look the food up each time. Since I make a lot of my food from scratch, I like the feature where I can input a recipe and it will calculate how many calories are in it- then I can divide out how many portions it makes to add to my daily plate. Another great feature is that it adds up the calories spent exercising and subtracts it from your daily calorie total so if there's a day where you ate a little more than you should, you can pay for it with your exercise to balance yourself out, LOL.

It also takes calculations to help you know how many calories you need to lose the weight and keeps track of any entered weight. Portion size and calorie counting help me and this is the best site I have found when looking around for what I needed.

It's not easy... and there are many of us out there silently waging your same battle. Good luck with your efforts. And Meggie, you've got an impressive report!

ruffles · Guru

You guys are amazing!

KarenK · Guru

I hit 50 and started taking tamoxifen at the same time, so I can't tell what's causing it, but it's definitely harder for me to lose weight and easier to gain weight in the last 6 months. I gained 5 pounds over Christmas and I can't seem to shed them like I used to. I also notice weight accumulating more in my belly than ever before. hmm

I'm like Meggie, I eat healthy foods, my big issue is portion control. It's helpful for me to see what constitutes a serving. So often, my idea of a serving is about half of Weight Watcher's definition, LOL! Who knew 8 oz. of OJ was 2 servings of fruit?! But it's good for you! biggrin

meggie · Senior Member

The slower metabolism is sure hard to combat! I used to be able to drop weight easily but now a pound and a half a week is a big accomplishment, plus just walking past the bakery puts it back on!

Portions are a big thing, pardon the expression. What is considered a 'portion' often isn't even close to what we see on plates. My mother's dinner plates were a lot smaller than we have now, and the 'large' coke glasses we used to get wouldn't even be a medium now. 30 oz. Big Gulps would have been the pop intake for a large family picnic, not one serving.

I've been trying to cut down the size of the meat portions lately. I realized that if we had steak or chicken breasts, we'd each eat a whole one, but if I cut it up and put it on a large salad, we were more than happy with half the amount. I usually cook extra meat for the next day, and found if I put it away right away, no one was tempted to have seconds.

-- Edited by meggie on Wednesday 8th of July 2009 03:50:31 PM

karenkfc · Senior Member

Portion control has always been one of my issues. Although it's also the eating between meals...

I'll have to check out that site you mentioned, light. I was looking for a way to calculate the calories in some of my recipes so that would be helpful. I'm mostly keeping the online journal so that it will distract me from eating (makes sense to me, focus on something else instead of food, lol) and I also have to show my doctor my journals every few weeks.

I'm with you, meggie... keeping my eye on the cruise as my goal. Fortunately, I have a little bit more time than you, I don't leave for 123 days!

light · Senior Member

I hope the site will be helpful. One of the nice things is the way I can chose my portion size from the list. Like I got some bing cherries- I don't want to eat a 1/2 cup or a cup portion, I want to eat 12 of them, LOL. So, on the list, I found where it is listed by the cherry. I can do that with other things, too, for example if I come down to supper time and I've got 650 calories left in my day, I can see how much of my homemade spaghetti I can eat, or I can mix and match my meat and veggies to make up my dinner. And there's a little balance wheel on the site which shows me how much protein, carbs and fat I've had for the day, so I can make sure my choices aren't detrimental to my efforts. I eat fairly healthy to begin with but that little wheel shows me that some days when I think I'm eating lowfat, I'm not doing as well as I thought...

I pack my lunch and usually will sit down first thing in the morning and plan out what I'm going to eat for all 3 meals and my 2 snacks. That helps me tremendously because I see how my calories are being spent and want to make sure I'm not hungry at the end of the day because I ate too many of them for breakfast/lunch. At the end of the day, I sit down, make any adjustments I need to make (didn't have time to eat the yogurt this afternoon) and add what ever exercise I've done.

Anyway, it's made things easier for me...

meggie · Senior Member

So light, how many calories are there in 12 Bing cherries? My son and dil arrived back yesterday from her grandmother's orchard and dropped off a huge container of beautiful Bings. They have such a short season that I plan to enjoy them but knowing the calorie count may help keep me from overdoing it.

I just checked out the site. It could be very addictive but there's a load of good info there. Thanks for the link.

-- Edited by meggie on Thursday 9th of July 2009 02:50:01 AM

light · Senior Member

oh yumm :) You will be glad to know there are only 4 calories in each cherry, giving a most satisfying, healthy, sweet treat :)

I don't find the site addicting, but then I don't take advantage of all the features... I'm all business, going there to log my info in and track myself as I have limited time. If you do decide to use it, make sure you log in or it won't save the things you eat on a listing. If you want to use the foods off of your listing, go to the box on the right side labeled "What I eat often" and click on the words that say "More foods I eat regularly." That will provide an easy to use listing that you click the boxes of what you are eating that day, enter your portion size and it will enter it all at once, rather than having to click each item individually. Nice little feature :) Quick, easy meal planning that suits my calorie intake and style of cooking :)

KFC, there is a journal feature at the link, too...

karenkfc · Senior Member

Thanks light, I am liking that site much better than what I was using. It's much easier to use, has a more extensive food listing and did a better job of calculating my goals vs my calorie intake.

I just like to focus my attention away from what I'm eating towards something more positive like tracking my progress so having this tool helps.

It's amazing, before I started this, I was popping 1-2 Zantac's every day for heartburn. Since I started, I haven't had to take any. So that's a great start!

light · Senior Member

THat is a great start :) And it should only get better :D

I'm glad you like the site and it has features that meet your needs. A friend at work linked me to it originally and I've found it to be a great deal of help.

Keep going, one day at a time...

hamitup · Veteran Member

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karenkfc · Senior Member

Light, I'm having a lot of fun with this website, now that I FINALLY figured out how to add my own things into it! I love that it calculated how many calories I can consume, and it was really generous I thought. Thanks again for suggesting it!

And on Friday afternoon, I was talking with my manager, who was eating cherries, and I was able to tell him how many calories there were in each cherry, which he thought was funny that I knew!

I'm loving that my heartburn is gone! And that I already have more energy! I haven't felt like a big lump of dough for days!

And I'm totally addicted to vegetarian sushi. New favourite diet lunch.

light · Senior Member

LOL, it's soooo good to "see" you so happy :D

Once I discovered this site, I found my diet to be much more on track. I love how it tells me how many more calories I have to "spend" and if I go over, it tells me how many I need to burn off... it keeps me accountable without nagging ;)

Lots of things I like about the site.

I hope that when you go back to do your weigh in, your dr will be as happy as you are. It sounds like you've made wonderful progress already!~

KarenK · Guru

Wow, Karen, that's GREAT about your heartburn! It's so gratifying to see a change in your body so quickly.

I've decided enough is enough and I need to lose these pounds that have been bugging me. When we went to NYC, I ate very well, LOL, and gained even more weight to prove it. I have a problem at restaurants -- too much of a clean plate syndrome -- I paid for it, I WILL eat it! :D At home I usually bring home the extras, but when you're living out of a car and motel, I had nowhere to store the food, so I'd just eat it. Blah...

So, this week I've embarked on a healthy choices regimen. I'm just making healthy eating choices, eating when I'm actually hungry, and eating only until I'm not hungry anymore, which means watching that portion control. So far, so good! That way I'm not starving myself or being plagued with low blood sugar. I've been substituting low fat, lower calorie, better nutrition options for what I might normally eat.

Anyway, I'm on the Summer Shedders bandwagon!

ruffles · Guru

Your determination to know, watch and count calories is inspiring.

Mostly, I'm trying to eat less than what I've been eating, what ever that was. It is amazing how little food you truly need! I think I may finally be at the point where a pound may fall off. Fingers are crossed.

meggie · Senior Member

I was doing great, just shy of 15 pounds since the end of May but I'm afraid to get on the scale after my son's open house today--yikes, sangria, barbequed sausages and a chocolate fondue! I took a huge pan of brownies and sort of finished off the chocolate mint icing after I finished icing them last night.

Three miles walking tomorrow will not be enough to get off these calories---and I'm not putting them on the MyPlate site! It may be enough to blow up the site!

KarenK · Guru

I think summer is harder than the holidays. I LOVE barbeques!!! If you grill it, I will eat it, LOL! And chocolate fondue? What's not to love? Meggie, I would have thrown myself off the bandwagon with abandon, LOL!!!

Too funny about entering the info! Maybe a hand reaches out of the computer and slaps your wrist. biggrin

ruffles · Guru

Uh oh!

Looks like we're on to a new way of crashing cyber networks! Better pull the plugs on your puters everybody.

*DELETE THE GRILLS*

KarenK · Guru

Yesterday was a challenge -- we went to the beach then to this place called Woodman's that's pretty famous in this area for their fried clams and other seafood. OH YUM!!! I don't normally eat deep fried food, but it was a beachy, summer day and a cold beer and fried scallops, onion rings and cole slaw just seemed to fit the bill. So it was bad for me, but I only ate about a fourth of what they gave me (seriously, it's what I would have made for a family of four) and brought the rest home for my voracious young men.

So a taste of the not-so-healthy, but I think I showed amazing restraint! The beer tasted delicious too! biggrin

And I successfully avoided the attached ice cream stand.

karenkfc · Senior Member

This weekend sort of wrecked me too.

We went "camping" as in we stayed at a provincial park in a tent. However, my campfire cooking skills are not extensive so we ate out several meals, and the ones we did eat over the fire consisted of hotdogs and s'mores. The eating out was BAAAAAD. And then we went to my mom's art show and they were selling homemade kettle corn and it was sooo good....

I"m hoping that all the work setting up the campsite and taking it down and walking around the camp helped with the additional calories.

Back to hard work tomorrow.

By the way... the whole camping thing was fine until I realized at about 11pm that train tracks ran practically right next t to the campsite and the trains liked to sound their horns the whole way across the park at all hours of the night. I think the trains ran about every half hour from 11pm onwards, and between 1:30 and 2:30 they were running every 15 minutes. On top of that, campsite full of guys partying kept me up when the trains weren't running... and once they broke up the party there was a couple...um... getting back to nature.. VERY loudly and the whole campground could hear. I'm sooooo tired... hey... that explains my lack of willpower, right?!

KarenK · Guru

on the couple disturbing the peace! C'mon, get a room! doh

Preferably in a hotel with thick walls!

Oh Karen, I'm a sucker for kettle corn as well. We often pass it around at staff meetings and the combo of the salt and the sweet just does me in!

light · Senior Member

Just catching up and found this too delightful to pass on :) LOL about the visual of the computer getting you for the excess calories if you honestly put down everything you ate.
I will put them down anyways and then I know how much exercise that little indulgence cost me... I'm hoping it will help with my will power as the holiday months approach. I've spent a LOT of time and effort losing these 15 pounds and they don't come off easily anymore so I sure don't want to put them back on (though this is the second time in 2 years I've had to lose them).

I hope everyone is back in the grove of at least maintaining, even if not losing at this point. KFC, don't let the sadness of this month and your weekend in the cabin get the better of you. (((hugs)))

meggie · Senior Member

There was no way I was entering those calories. First I'd have to mentally relive the excesses, plus it would have taken waaay too long to to do it. Can you enter guilty typing as an exercise??

No, I was aware fo how many calories it was, and it took most of the next week to get back to where I was before the indulgence. That daily weight graph was enough of a hand slap!!

light · Senior Member

yeah, the weight graph is pretty effective, isn't it? Works for me, too...