dieting question - finding it hard!!!

I could do with a gee up here.....

...well dinner for everyone consisted of steak and chips and loads of stuff that I would murder. However, mine was some white fish in breadcrumbs, with some potato and some cauliflower and brocolli. No butter - nuttin - I have to be honest its now I feel I am struggling. Weekends I tend to eat more due to working one in two and am used to snacking.
Given that I have never been on any form of diet before, is it natural to feel like you could be having a low spot - this early in to this? Day 3 and I have chewed the lids of pens, nails off fingers ...
Its now I am struggling I have to be honest. I did sneak off to the fridge and opened it - then closed it and walked away and made a coffee.
Talk about agony......is it supposed to be this hard?
Kev

Kev - the main reason diets fail is that people end up eating stuff that tastes like cardboard.

My personal take on dieting is that you can eat a bit of what you like such as butter but only in small amounts.

The trick is to create balanced meals and to eat in smaller quantities. That way you lose weight, but you lose it slower. This means that you're more likely to keep it off as you've re-educated your tastebuds along the way.

Having said that, I'm struggling with post-pregnancy fat which is refusing to shift. I am going to try the more drastic cutting out of wheat and dairy products for a month or 2 and see if that kick-starts the weight-loss. I did it 5 years ago and I lost about 2 stone and looks and felt fab.

BTW -are you cutting outall those fabulous Yorkshire beers? They are STUFFED full of calories y'know?

Like a lot have said, do not stop eating what you normally eat or else you will start to binge eat. Eat whatever you want - as long as it is in moderation, control your portions, like Weight Watchers does. Please do not torture yourself and stop eating things. Eat a smaller steak - we still eat steaks but mine are smaller than what I used to eat and I have lost some weight. Does your workplace have a gym or do they subsidise gym memberships? Some workplaces do that - you should check it out.

You can do it Kev - oh and dont forget to drink your water!

The other thing is that the whole family should be eating the same. IMO, you will never succeed if you are staring across the table at 'other' meals. I really suggest some type of program (like WW), kev, instead of hit or miss. I lost my weight in about 5 months, and never felt deprived.

Can I have any alcohol at all guys? I would love a scotch and lemonade and wonder if this would have the same amount of calories etc as a beer? I know that beer is also responsible for this gut that I have (being a Yorkshireman - we love our old Peculiar), so instead of a couple of pints - could I have a scotch and lemonade.

Also - carol has said she is starting this with me and had the same tea as I did - at least there is now two of us at it!!!

I think the majority of people would do better with small changes in their eating habits rather than cutting out everything you normally eat. If you change to a low fat/low carb/low taste, your really going to have a tough time.

*Try eating small meals every 3/4 hours. Your body will have something to work on and you won't get those huge hunger pains where you will eat everything in sight. Rob and I have started eating at 6am, snack at 9am/10am, lunch at 12, snack at 3pm and dinner at 6pm. Remember to eat a protein source at each meal and watch your food intake at each meal!! Carbs can be deadly and if you want them, try eating them before the afternoon (since you will work them off during the day, rather than eating them at dinner and not working them off). Try limiting carbs like bread, rice, potatoes etc. to once a day rather than at every meal.

*On the weekend, buy all your veggies/fruits/salads, cut them up into individual portions so you have something to take with you to work each day.

*Limit high fat dairy, processed/refined sugar and white flour. Personally, we have stopped buying anything that has white flour in it and are currently eating all whole grain pasta and breads (in limited portions).

*Only buy whole grain breads, and make all meals. All these premade meals are horrible in terms of preservatives, salt, and unnecessary and unhealthy ingredients.

*Try to eat as fresh and unprocessed foods as possible.

*During your day, drink a glass of water every hour.

*Exercise first thing in the morning and you will feel better going into work. Many people leave it to the end of the day and they skip it.

I'm not that sold on all the extreme diets out there. Maybe for some people it is necessary, but I think if you watch your portions, eat smaller healthier meals, regular exercise and treat yourself once in awhile you will have long term success.

My secret to spicing up bland diet foods is salsa! The spicey kind with hot peppers, onions, garlic and smooshed tomatoes. Unless it has been laced with sugars and salts, it is basically all vegetables, and according to Weight Watchers (of long ago), "free" food (you can eat as much of it as you like). I pour it on just about everything to give it a good zing. Not sure if that is a popular snack in UK, but it is available everywhere in the US.

Due his heart condition, my late husband was on a low-fat diet. The whole family went on it, because it wouldn't do any of us any harm. Once a week, however, Russ and I went out to dinner and he had whatever he wanted. Every two or three weeks, we had pizza.

The doctor said that this was fine, as he wouldn't feel deprived and was more likely to stay on the diet. When I was on an 800-calorie-a-day diet, I was allowed one gooey dessert per week, for the same reason.

For snacks, Nabisco's Snackwells cookies are wonderful. The devil's food ones have no fat and they taste good.

Stay away from rice cakes. No wonder people don't stay on diets - those things have the consistency and taste of Styrofoam!

Yes, kev, for some of us it is that hard. I have heard of people chewing sugar free gum and having it help. I have been doing a little better lately since I have been in school, but not really dieting. I just don't have the time to sit on my butt and snack like I did before. I am going to have to buckle down and start getting back in shape, though, a massage therapist that cannot stand and do several hour long massages in a day won't get much work. I found it much harder than I thought it would be. It is going to be a pretty demanding profession, and making the transition from my last job, where I mostly sat in front of the computer or tv, is going to be a bit taxing on my 45 year old, self abused body. If I had known I was actually going to live this long, I would have taken better care of myself. I guess you don't think about that when you're a young hellion.

Kev, don't give up.. I agree with Deb maybe a diet is better that you can still eat what you want but just in moderation. Lots of luck mate.

Originally posted by katl8e
Stay away from rice cakes. No wonder people don't stay on diets - those things have the consistency and taste of Styrofoam!

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I disagree. Quaker makes flavored rice cakes. I keep some of the apple flavor in my desk. I think they taste great and are good if you want something crunchy.

Kev, you are setting yourself up for a major binge if you don't let yourself have things in moderation. Moderation is the key. You can still have butter. Your body needs some fat to absorb nutrients, to keep your bowels working, etc. . .

If you are still ravenous after a meal, you are probably not eating enough. Have more fruit, drink lots of water. Save a treat for the end of the week or day that fits into your program.

Don't think of it as a diet. It's a life-time committment to eating well and staying healthy.

Vodka, soda and lime has almost no calories, I don't know about scotch tho'

Dark alcohol has more calories than clear alcohol, so the vodka and rum drinks would be better. But in general the key to everything is moderation. If you like scotch - have a glass. A glass. If you love your beer, don't completely deprive yourself of it because you won't be able to keep to that. It is all about moderation, as everyone here has said. Cut back your portions - you will be amazed at how little you actually have to eat to be full. Think about what you are eating, about how healthy or unheathy it is. You may still put butter on your veggies, but put 1/2 of what you used to. The taste is still there, but it isn't nearly as bad for you.

The deprivation diets are setting yourself up for failure. Even if you have the willpower to stay on them and make it to your weight goal, once you aren't "on the diet" you will gain it all back, and probably more, because you will eat everything you deprived yourself of. Learning to eat differently, even if just in moderation, will allow yourself to be successful at not only losing the weight, but maintaining it as well.

Haha! I love rice cakes. The butter popcorn ones. The women at work can't understand how I eat them. I even have Emmett snacking on them with me.

Drinking lots of water helps fill you up too.

I find snacking the hardest, especially when watching a movie or playing on my computer. In these cases try having some veggies or cottage cheese.

With WW most veggies are zero points so you can fill up on them as snack food. I usually eat cauliflour or broccili. I wish I liked celery since it burns more calories just eating it then you actually get from it.

Pay attention to carbs calories and fat. I am currently on a diet and am loving my 7 gram carb bread, no fat turkey and miricle whip!! Im pretty much surviving on that zenadrine sp? and Wendys chili(low fat)!

Way to go so far, Kev! Doing better than me, I'm gonna start losing weight 'next Monday' and have been for the past half a year or so.

Thought I'd tell you what my brother did last year, and is doing again. He'd never attempted to lose weight before and his eating habits weren't all that healthy to begin with. What he did was that for 6 days of the week, he'd eat healthy and low-calorie foods like salads or soups, and snack on veggies. Then for that one day, he'd eat anything he wanted. And that would include chips, cookies, candies etc. And he lost 40 pounds!