Official Weight Loss Club Thread

[Muffie's Mom]

Would you run out of fingers, and maybe even toes, if you used them to count your tries at adopting a healthy lifestyle? Many of us would. The reason? Often it’s that we need to change how we try to make changes.

How we make the journey, not whether we always reach our exact goals, determines our success. And how we make the journey is really about our ability to support ourselves along the way, instead of falling back into judgmental and self-defeating ways of thinking and doing.

If you're thinking about making another run at a healthy lifestyle, consider these steps along the way.

Get Real

Whether we're trying to start eating healthier or become more physically active, the first step is to be clear about our goals.


Get real. Whether we're trying to start eating healthier or become more physically active, the first step is to be clear about our goals...and clear whether they are something we can achieve. For example, if you currently walk once a week, and you begin to strive for five, what's the chance you'll get there regularly? Immediately trying to fit four extra workouts into your busy week may leave you struggling. Instead, think about an initial goal of walking twice a week. Small increases --'baby steps' -- build on success. As you feel good about your ability to do one extra walk, you'll see your motivation ratchet up for another, 'til you reach that higher goal.

Get committed. We're talking about energy and dedication to find healthy behaviors that work for you. Which of these statements sounds like you? "I'll try to walk twice a week," or "I'm committed to walking twice a week." It's much easier to shrug off the former promise to yourself. If it doesn't feel right to say you're committed to something, explore why. Is the goal you've set really right for you?

Give up 'shoulds.' A tangle of beliefs and thoughts about what we 'should' do or where we 'should' be with our fitness and health can threaten our ability to find what's right for us. Refuse to follow the latest and greatest new diet. Make peace with your body size, and buy a flattering outfit for that important event rather than trying to lose weight to fit into an old favorite. You may still be able to improve your fitness, but you don't have to put feeling good on hold until you do.

Get assertive. Does everyone around you have opinions about what's best for you? Exercise your right to make your own choices. That also means putting yourself first. If you don't make it a priority to care for yourself, you won't be at your best in caring for others either.

Reward yourself. Build your self image as a winner by acknowledging and celebrating your small successes with ways that are meaningful to you. It's all about feeling good and keeping yourself going.

Remind yourself. Whether it's remembering to eat lunch, or getting in that two-mile walk, add your new behaviors to your 'to do' list. When you check them off as done, you'll also give yourself an extra boost of satisfaction.

Seek support. Support is one of the key predictors of success at lifestyle change. Buddy up with friends or family to accomplish your goals, read inspirational books or success stories. Join support groups, or seek the help of a qualified therapist or counselor if needed.

Remember: While it may seem to take a lot of work when we first start making healthy lifestyle changes, they become second nature after a while. So hang in there with your new positive behaviors. Soon, they'll just be the way you do things.

[Muffie's Mom]

"Diets" are something to go on today and off tomorrow. While people who go on "diets" can (and do) lose weight in the short run, the lost weight more often than not comes bounding back as soon as old eating habits are resumed.

What's needed is a new way of eating that provides the right nutrients, satisfies your appetite and "food passions," allows you to dine out and go to parties, and still enables you to lose weight and/or maintain a healthy weight.

Granted, you won't lose weight as quickly as if you were on a 500-calorie-a-day-grapefruit-and-watermelon diet, but the weight you lose will be more likely to stay lost.

[Muffie's Mom]

FIVE EASY SECRETS...

1. Are you really hungry or are you eating because you're feeling stressed, bored, frustrated, etc.?

2. Don't put any of your favorite foods "off limits." Instead, limit them (i.e., enjoy one of your favorites once a week).

3. Cut back on the amount of food you eat, rather than on the kinds of food you eat - you won't have to count calories and you'll be able to enjoy your favorite foods.

4. Eat slowly and allow time for your brain to tell you when you've eaten enough.

5. Leave the table feeling not quite full - you'll feel more alert and vital.

[Muffie's Mom]

Fool your mouth...Some low calorie substitutions for the high-calorie stuff

100-CALORIE SNACKS:

Crunchy

1 apple
5 bread sticks
½ cup cold cereal w/nonfat milk
½ English muffin w/butter or jam
2 cups fresh vegetables


Smooth/Creamy

1 Tbsp. peanut butter
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
½ cup 1% cottage cheese with peach slices
Nonfat frozen yogurt, 4 oz.


Sweet

3 graham crackers
1 cup water-packed fruit cocktail
About 30 grapes
20 whole strawberries
two thirds of a box of Cracker Jacks


Salty

10 Saltine crackers
5 Triscuits
Popcorn, lightly buttered and salted, 2 cups
Dill pickle (3¾" long) - only 5 calories

[Muffie's Mom]

Make your craving wait for 10 minutes. Within that 10 minutes, go for a walk, take a hot shower, call a friend, etc. By then, the craving probably will have passed.

Don't buy food you're likely to crave (and binge on). Or if you must, buy it in individual serving packages.

Drink a glass of water or eat a piece of fruit. You'll probably feel too full to want anything else.

Keep low-fat snacks - like pretzels, popcorn, cut-up vegetables and fruit - handy. If they're not, it will be that much easier to dig into a bag of chips or cookies.

[Muffie's Mom]

Sugar-filled foods are among the most-craved items in our diet. But consider these not-so-sweet facts next time your sugar-craving kicks in:

Sugary foods fill you up with "empty" calories. That means you're probably not eating enough fruits, vegetables, and whole grains - foods which contain the much-needed nutrients our bodies require to fight off disease.

Too much sugar in foods that are high in calories makes you gain weight, and too much weight can contribute to disorders like diabetes, heart disease, and some cancers.

Too much sugar can make you feel tired, shaky, weak, faint, headachey, confused, and mentally dull.

A BETTER USE FOR SUGAR

To see if your bathroom scale is accurate, weigh an unopened five-pound bag of sugar.

Need motivation to continue losing excess weight? After you've lost five pounds, lift a five pound bag of sugar to get a tangible idea of how much weight you've lost.

[Muffie's Mom]

Fast Food = Fat Food?

Life in the fast lane can easily turn into life in the fat lane, if consumers don't pay attention to what they are eating. Fast, on-the-go type meals can contain hidden fat, sugar, and salt. Typical excuses for grabbing on-the-fly fast food include not liking to cook or clean up after cooking, not having time, and feeling like cooking isn't worth the effort. Aren't you worth the time and effort that it takes to nourish your body with healthy meals and avoid diet gremlins?

You can still eat well and not spend your life in the kitchen.
All it takes is a little knowledge about how to choose and eat fast foods.

Fast food doesn't have to be fat food. A fast food diet fits into healthy eating if moderation is exercised. Remember the following suggested guidelines in making healthy lifestyle choices that contain fewer fast food calories and more nutrients:

Reduce fats, saturated fats and cholesterol

Select small-size plain burgers and sandwiches, and use moderate amounts of condiments that you add yourself.

Nix the cheese and bacon enhancements and add more lettuce, tomato, and onion.

Avoid fried foods--fish, french fries, onion rings, etc.

Drink low fat and low sugar beverages; opt for water (add lemon, lime, or a little fruit juice for flavor), tea, or low fat milk (less than 2%).

Skip coffee whiteners - the regular ones have lots of fat, and the low-fat ones replace the fat with sugar.

Order tacos or taco salads on a plain (soft) tortilla.

Skip croissant and biscuit sandwiches - croissants and biscuits are very high in fat.

Eat raw veggies and green salads with low fat dressing.

Choose small portions; NEVER SUPERSIZE.

Skip dessert and opt for a fresh fruit treat later.

Limit sugar

Sugar is hidden in ketchup, pickle relish, jelly, honey, BBQ and other sauces, so load up on other taste enhancers like lettuce, tomatoes, onion, peppers, etc.

Avoid sweet salads and pudding at salad bars; opt for fresh fruit instead.

Avoid sweetened soft drinks and shakes -- order water, low fat milk, or other unsweetened beverages.

Remember, yogurt desserts with toppings may contain fruit and look like a healthy choice, but they contain lots of sugar.

Skip sugary desserts, and make a healthy choice as a snack later.

Limit sodium

Hold the pickles and limit use of other condiments such as ketchup.

Read salad dressing labels, and try using vinegar and oil or a squeeze of lemon instead.

Some diet sodas contain sodium -- opt for water or low fat milk.

Avoid restructured poultry and meat (i.e., chicken nuggets, some roast beef, deli meats).

Breakfast meats are high in sodium unless labeled otherwise -- limit sausage, ham, and bacon.

French fries, onion rings, and hash browns are high in fat and salt and are often salted more before being served -- do you really need them?

Apply salt sparingly to all food and use salt substitutes or herbs and spices to enhance flavor.

Processed cheese and cheese products are sodium laden -- opt for a small piece of hard cheese later as a snack.

Increase fiber

Choose fresh vegetables and fruits at the salad bar.

Select sandwiches with tomatoes, lettuce, and onion.

Ask for whole grain or multi-grain buns and bread.

Enjoy baked potatoes and the skins, but go easy on toppings such as bacon and cheese.

Choose foods which include dry beans, such as small burritos, chili, and salad bar toppings.

Quiet Revolution

Even if you feel like you're the only one embracing healthy eating, don't be afraid to be in the vanguard. "Quiet revolutions" frequently succeed one person at a time. Empower yourself to make healthy choices! Here are some more ways to combat the gremlins:

Identify personal stress triggers and note if any (or all!) of them cause you to eat when you're not hungry. Work on dealing with them in another way.

When you get a craving, get up and move (walk, stair-climb, stretch) for just a few minutes. Most cravings and most hunger pains only last 10 minutes. Keep a record of how many times a day you successfully get past them.

Avoid drive-through windows and eating in the car or in front of the TV.

Listen to the words in food commercials, with your back to the picture, and write down everything you can pick out as being deceptive.

Keep a food diary for a week (write down everything that goes in your mouth, even diet drinks and sugarless gum). At the end of the week, pick out 500 calories from each day that you could have done without and eliminate them from your intake the next week. Visualize yourself kicking an ugly little gremlin into outer space. See if you can keep him there for the rest of the month. Do this for the first week of every month and track how many calories get permanently eliminated from your daily intake.

Make it a habit to take at least 20 minutes to consume every meal and snack. That's the length of time it takes your stomach to send the "I'm full" message to your brain.

Sometimes gremlins show up in our motives for aspiring to healthy eating/healthy living. As with other aspects of behavior change, the commitment to healthy eating has to be made for yourself, not a family member, friend, co-worker, or anyone else. Doing it for someone else provides too much opportunity for resentment ("If she/he really cared about me, she/he would love me the way I am") and scapegoating ("You should have stopped me from getting that second dish of ice cream"). You and only you are the person who can affect your behavior! Once you've made the commitment, though, recruiting supporters is a very good idea. Maybe a co-worker would agree to put the candy dish on his desk out of sight or to bring in healthy snacks instead. Perhaps a spouse or roommate would take a healthy cooking class with you, or a neighbor might enjoy a daily walk. Positive support for a change is far different from pressure to make a change.

[Muffie's Mom]

Be Happy and Healthy--Eat Smart

In order to feel good, look good, and be healthy, you have to pay attention to what you eat. Now that doesn't mean depriving yourself of the food you love! Just be conscious of what you eat, and how much you eat, and you will be taking a step towards looking and feeling the way your heart desires.

Try following these general guidelines!

- Use low-fat substitutes when possible.

- Drink lots of water (I'm still working on this one!)

- Eat only one large meal a day and at least two smaller ones. I enjoy a large evening meal with my family every day.

- Limit caffeine and Nutrasweet. They actually stimulate your appetite.

- Limit sugar when possible. It has a lot of calories, makes you hungry, and causes mood swings.

- Cut down on the number of snacks you eat, but make sure to enjoy your favorites, even if fattening, once in awhile (maybe once a week).

- Exercise everyday. Even if it's just walking to the mail box or working in the yard.

[jbarile]

Originally Posted by Jaspermom

JoAnn, you really should post it here! It was really great!

TODAY IS WEIGH-IN DAY!! Everyone please pm/post/email me your weight!

This is also a great site, it is simimular to the diet organizer that muffys mom had offered us the opportunity to download for free and at a 37% discount! what is everyone waiting for? Try it for free! after you check out the link I inserted, sparkpeople, you will see the diet organizer is so simiular and will give you an idea just how the diet organizer will and can work for you!download the diet organizer to try it out! The link for sparkpeople organizer is a free online program! But why not have an organizer on your desktop without having to log on! So check out this site! it offers you receipes and even gives you a grocery list to print! you can even transfer your info from sparkpeople onto the diet organizer! and you dont have to have an online connection to monitor your diet! I have downloaded the diet organizer and no this is not a selling point here! Only testomony that it is so much easier to manage and watch what you eat and have it calculated for you!
no more trying to do the math! check out the site, then you will get an idea just how the diet organizer works!

muffys mom for sending me this link! I really like the idea of having the program available without having to go online!

custom programs, tracking tools, and support on our Message Boards, many members find a great deal of help and advice here in our Resource Center. Remember, a combination of eating right, exercising, and staying motivated will help you lose weight!

http://www.sparkpeople.com/myspark/mysparkstart.asp



DietOrganizer is a fast and easy-to-use diet diary, it allows you to accurately track your daily food intake.

Entering food intake multiple times a day, for several weeks or months, can quickly become tedious, that's why its important that the process be fast and easy-to-use.

DietOrganizer uses a familiar windows spreadsheet interface with full cut/copy/paste, undo/redo, direct-cell-entry and search-as-you-type to make logging as painless as possible.

http://dietorganizer.com/

Yeah! 123 whoooooooho

[jbarile]

There might be some confusion here
but actually I am promoting both the site spark people and after you check this site out..
check out the diet organizer site, they both compliment each other!!

[Muffie's Mom]

EQUIVALENTS TO U.S. RECIPE MEASUREMENTS
QUICK TIPS FOR CALCULATIONS

1 gallon = 4 quarts = 8 pints = 16 cups = 128 fluid ounces
1 quart = 2 pints = 4 cups = 32 fluid ounces
1 pint = 2 cups = 16 fluid ounces
1 cup = 8 fluid ounces = 16 tablespoons
1 gill = 1/2 cup = 4 fluid ounces = 8 tablespoons
1 fluid ounce = 2 tablespoons
1 tablespoon = 1/2 fluid ounce = 3 teaspoons
To convert ounces to grams, multiply ounces x 28.35
To convert pounds to grams, multiply pounds x 453.59
To convert Fahrenheit degrees (F) to Celsius degrees (C):
°C = (°F - 32) x 5/9
1 stick of butter = 8 tablespoons = 4 ounces = 1/4 pound


CHANGING RECIPE QUANTITIES

Folks have written in asking how to increase the yield of a recipe for large gatherings, etc. Here's how you do it.

Divide the desired yield by the recipe yield:

new yield
--------- = conversion factor
old yield

Multiply each ingredient quantity by the conversion factor:
conversion factor X old quantity = new quantity



VOLUME MEASURES CONVERSIONS

Metric equivalents are rounded.

U.S. Measurement Metric Measurement

1 teaspoon 5 milliliters
1 tablespoon 15 milliliters
1 fluid ounce (2 tablespoons) 30 milliliters
2 fluid ounces (1/4 cup) 60 milliliters
8 fluid ounces (1 cup) 240 milliliters
16 fluid ounces (2 cups = 1 pint) 480 milliliters
32 fluid ounces (2 pints = 1 quart) 950 milliliters (.95 liter)
128 fluid ounces (4 quarts = 1 gallon) 3.75 liters


WEIGHT MEASURES CONVERSIONS

Metric equivalents are rounded.

U.S. measurement Metric measurement

1/4 ounce 8 grams
1/2 ounce 15 grams
1 ounce 30 grams
4 ounces 115 grams
8 ounces (1/2 pound) 225 grams
16 ounces (1 pound) 450 grams
32 ounces (2 pounds) 900 grams
40 ounces (2-1/4 pounds) 1 kilogram


TEMPERATURE CONVERSIONS

Celsius equivalents have been rounded.

Degrees Fahrenheit (°F) Degrees Celsius (°C)
32° 0°
40° 4°
140° 60°
150° 65°
160° 70°
170° 75°
212° 100°
275° 135°
300° 150°
325° 165°
350° 175°
375° 190°
400° 205°
425° 220°
450° 230°
475° 245°
500° 260°

[Muffie's Mom]

Originally Posted by jbarile

This is also a great site, it is simimular to the diet organizer that muffys mom had offered us the opportunity to download for free and at a 37% discount! what is everyone waiting for? Try it for free! after you check out the link I inserted, sparkpeople, you will see the diet organizer is so simiular and will give you an idea just how the diet organizer will and can work for you!download the diet organizer to try it out! The link for sparkpeople organizer is a free online program! But why not have an organizer on your desktop without having to log on! So check out this site! it offers you receipes and even gives you a grocery list to print! you can even transfer your info from sparkpeople onto the diet organizer! and you dont have to have an online connection to monitor your diet! I have downloaded the diet organizer and no this is not a selling point here! Only testomony that it is so much easier to manage and watch what you eat and have it calculated for you!
no more trying to do the math! check out the site, then you will get an idea just how the diet organizer works!

muffys mom for sending me this link! I really like the idea of having the program available without having to go online!

custom programs, tracking tools, and support on our Message Boards, many members find a great deal of help and advice here in our Resource Center. Remember, a combination of eating right, exercising, and staying motivated will help you lose weight!

http://www.sparkpeople.com/myspark/mysparkstart.asp



DietOrganizer is a fast and easy-to-use diet diary, it allows you to accurately track your daily food intake.

Entering food intake multiple times a day, for several weeks or months, can quickly become tedious, that's why its important that the process be fast and easy-to-use.

DietOrganizer uses a familiar windows spreadsheet interface with full cut/copy/paste, undo/redo, direct-cell-entry and search-as-you-type to make logging as painless as possible.

http://dietorganizer.com/

Yeah! 123 whoooooooho

To Clarify: I "think" what she was saying was to use the Sparks People program, it is necessary to have an online connection and you actually have to log in each time.

But, with the Diet Organizer, it can be put on your Desktop. You can use it offline and it is not necessary to "log in". Diet Organizer has a 10 day FREE trial period.

[jbarile]

Originally Posted by Muffie's Mom

To Clarify: I "think" what she was saying was to use the Sparks People program, it is necessary to have an online connection and you actually have to log in each time.

But, with the Diet Organizer, it can be put on your Desktop. You can use it offline and it is not necessary to "log in". Diet Organizer has a 10 day FREE trial period.

what Pat just said.. sorry for the confusion I got caught up in the moment!! as both programs are great! the only downfall was you had to be logged on to access sparkpeople. but sparkpeople's program has similuar features with the diet organizer, it kinda gives you an an idea how the diet organizer works
Gosh I hope I said this right

[deb4air]

Glad . to report my weight I am at 212 . thanks ,

[Jaspermom]

Originally Posted by deb4air

Glad . to report my weight I am at 212 . thanks ,

Anyone else got on the scale today? I haven't checked my AOL account, I am off to do so!!

Don't forget to weigh in!