I've been doing some reading on past posts. I am lucky in the fact that i'm not real fond of salt and seasonings. My problem is butter. I put butter in everything. So if I were to cook broccoli..do i just add nothing or can I add low fat butter and if so how much? And if I bake chicken I do like to use lemon pepper seasoning. Is that ok to use or bad?
I also forgot to mention I will be 35 this month and I do smoke. I smoke outside because i do have kids and pets..and that has helped me cut down but i still smoke. My biggest problem I forsee is I hate water and love mt. dew. That will be my biggest challenge. I know I can't go cold turkey so I"m going to have to cut down each day. So tonight I"m going to not drink anymore pop and drink a glass of water and tomorrow I will limit myself to one in the morning one in the afternoon and one in the evening. I'll be cutting out my nightly one..and I"ll cut down from there. I have to set daily goals to do this. I hope thats ok.
oh and is their a time ishould quit eating. I am one of those that eats a little all day long..I don't eat alot at once. I think my biggest prob with my weight is what I drink..my biggest prob with health is waht i eat and drink..

All right...I fell off...
 

Hi everyone!

All right, I'm back!!

I know everyone has been working hard on their alternative, healthy life style. Can you please PM me your stats? If you're new, that's quite all right, just PM me anyways with your name, age, height, current weight, goal weight, AND your email address.

Spring is almost here! There is plenty to do outside around this time of the year. How about let's share ideas of activities we can do so we can incorporate the healthy life style?

Couple weeks ago, I wore my pedometer to see how much I'd walk throughout the day. The result was astonishing! It was barely 4,000 steps (10,000 required for good health)!! My co-workers and I were shocked and "ashamed". Since then, we wear it to help us to be more careful about our daily activities.

What do you do in your daily routine that can help you to have a healthier lifestyle??

You are welcome to join, Marlee!
 

Just PM JKat with your age, current weight, goal weight, height, and email address, and she will add you to the club statistics. Remember, everyone, if you have not already done so, a requirement of joining this club is that you must start from the beginning of this thread and read AND FOLLOW the information offered. You cannot take this casually. You have to eat healthy and exercise. It is not about food deprivation, you can eat like a pig, you just have to eat RIGHT!

I am so proud of everyone who is making the choice to eat right, lose weight, get exercise, and live healthy! GREAT JOB, folks!!

And Kathy, thank you so much for continuing with the statistics!! You ROCK my friend! :p

Good job! Keep reading!
 

Say NO to butter. Try some Smart Balance buttery spread.

Use the Smart Balance, or get some "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter".

Make your own Lemon Pepper. Squeeze a little lemon juice on your birdy, and pepper it up!

I don't have to tell you you should quit smoking. You already know that.

[QUOTE=Tashasmom] My biggest problem I forsee is I hate water and love mt. dew.
Is there a Diet Mt Dew? If you can't quit, switch.

Try to not eat after dinner.

Eating small meals throughout the day is fine, provided you are eating healthy food!

Yes, you need to wean yourself off from the sugared drinks, they do you no good at all. And you need to think about every single bite you put into your mouth. If you KNOW it's not good for you, ask yourself why are you eating it?

And if you have children, shouldn't you be teaching them healthy eating for their lifetime? They will have a lot less health problems later if they learn how to eat healthy now. When I hand my 4 year old grandson an unfamiliar snack, he ALWAYS asks me if it has fat in it!! He says, "Mommy doesn't let us eat fat!" Now that's dedication to healthy eating!

YOU CAN DO THIS!! Just use your biggest tool called your brain and THINK about your eating habits. Don't try to change everything all at once. Try to change one thing per day. Or if that's too hard, change one thing per week. Eventually you will be in the habit of eating right, and it will just be natural to you! GOOD LUCK, and keep plugging away!! :thumbup:

Well for the first time in a long time I went to bed with a growling tummy. Since I decided to do this last night I couldn't go to the store to get my new healthy food so after dinner my hunger for some reason always kicks in. I'm proud to say instead of stuffing my face with junk I chose not to eat at all. I figured I had dinner and I wasn't going to starve to death. And so far today I've had no Mt. dew.

Good for you!!!

Way to go...woo hoo!!!
 

It is a very slow process but once you start eating healthy you will start to see changes. I think the most important thing you can do (I need to start this myself) is exercise! Your results could come even faster that way and you will feel better to boot. If you absolutely have to have your Mt. Dew, do the diet...it is not that bad. When I drank carbonated drinks, Diet Dew was my favorite...it is really not that bad tasting. And when you go shopping, be prepared to spend double the time you usually spend...you will be reading labels and until you get in the habit of what to buy, it will take you a little longer to shop. It is a little more trouble at first to eat healthier but you will feel better for it. There are tons of good substitutions for the junk we eat. It is definitely a change in lifestyle that will change your life.

Well I ate mixed vegetables for lunch and i had an orange for a snack. I have a splitting headache don't know if thats from not eating what i'm used to or lack of mt dew or i just have a headache lol..I don't really feel hungry but i feel like i haven't ate if that makes sense.

I started walking about a week and half or so ago..somewhere around there. I've been walking in the woods up hills down hills..don't know if that is enough but we walk for about an hour and half to 2 hours..

That is very good exercise. As far as the headache, it is certainly caffiene withdrawal. You may not be able to stop your Mt. Dew cold turkey...just cut way back. Have one in the morning or something. Baby steps...It is like eating an elephant...one bite at a time!

Do you drink winter? I get headaches when I don't drink enough water...

No I don't normally drink water. I hate it it's plain tasting to me. But today I have drank 3 glasses so far. Well they are coffee cup size glasses. I did go ahead and drink about a half cup of mt dew when i read that maybe thats whats giving me the headaches. I haven't had a headache this bad in a long time. It's killing me so hopefully that helps. I took 2 ibuprophen and it didn't even touch it. Normally I don't even really get into to eating til the evening..now I can't stop thinking about food lol..not that i want anything right now but thinking that there are some things i'll never eat again..that shouldn't even bother me cuase really outside of chocolate around my time of the month i'm not a junk food junky..i thinks its more the fried foods. but it's nice to come somewhere to talk about it..

Caffeine withdrawal
 

You are most definitely suffering from withdrawal symptoms. You are going to be alright, though, you may have to deal with the pain a bit. Water water water. Stay hydrated. :thumbup: And congrats on your food choices in the past 24 hours!! You are doing great already! And Deb and Kathy, nice job with the encouragement!!! We are ALL in this together, and we can DO THIS together!!

GROUP HUG!! :hug: :hug: :hug: :hug:

I know we always joke about caffeine withdrawals but I seriously never thought it possible to have them. I almost feel pathetic that i've allowed myself to get that addicted to pop. course it shouldn't surprise me I'm addicted to food and cigarettes.

Lol!!
 

Don't be TOO hard on yourself, OK? :p You can do this, one day at a time!