Healthy living!

[kiwideus]

heidi, vent all you want, we are here!

i was the same, i gained weight after having my son and being married doesnt help, i read a study that couples, especially women gain weight because they eat the same amount of food as men do when the men cook.

and the problem we have is we eat small meals during the day and eat one big meal in the evening at dinnertime, and we dont exercise after dinner - especially with all the good tv shows in the evening, you arent burning the fat you are buiding up from the meal. hope this makes sense because it doesnt sound like it to me LOL

are you still drinking 8 cups or more water a day?

Good luck Heidi! (((HUGS)))

 

[valanhb]

Heck the water is the one thing I am doing really good on! My water goal is 1 gallon per day, or 16 glasses. On my bad days I'm still getting about 12 glasses per day.

In the first thread, water was our first goal, and we read (somewhere) that to use water to lose weight you should drink 1 gallon per day. A friend of mine who has done AWESOME with her weight loss goals (she's lost over 100 pounds!) said the rule of thumb that she was taught was 1/2 of your body weight in ounces of water per day. So if you're 200 lbs, drink 100 ounces of water. (A gallon is 128 ounces.)

 

[kiwideus]

yikes! ok good idea in determining how much water to drink!
thanks heidi for the tip!

 

[gurlpower]

i don't really exercise.. possibly get me exercise just from running errands...

However, my diet seems to work as i am not overweight:

Breakfast: (Extremely important) - a cup of green tea (contains anti-oxidant) and a slice of bread (with vegetable oil spread or peanut butter spread)

Lunch: Fruits and lots of fluids.. another cup of tea (different flavor or green tea)

Dinner: Basically whatever i want. i lean towards fresh seafoods, since i grew up in Singapore, an island where seafoods are readily available. i am not too crazy about meat, but sometimes crave for a good slab of medium-rare filet mignon or something. Oh yes, we eat chicken quite frequently.

Let me know if you have any comments about my diet.. any suggestions or comments is much welcomed!

i love Godiva chocolates, especially the truffles and strawberries dipped in chocolate, but only eat them occasionally. i eat a pack of M&Ms (love those with almonds!) almost every day. Hehe!

Cheers!

i really like these two quotes: "you are what you eat" and "eat to live, not live to eat"

 

[dtolle]

I just want to address the water issue for you. A good rule of thumb IS to drink half your weight in water. BUT, once you get to a low weight, it doesn't always work. If you weigh 120 lbs, then 60 oz is really not enough. I like to say the minimum should be 75 oz, even if the calculations come out less. I drink a minimum of 75 oz, but most days I try to hit 100oz. Its healthy, and it really helps w/ keeping you flushed out of sodium, which will make you retain.

Pohchoowan,

I can't comment on your diet. I think everyone has to do what works for them, but I can tell you that if you don't consume enough calories that can be bad too. Seems to me like you could get more protein in your breakfast and lunch, it keeps you fuller longer, and is needed by muscles for proper function.

Great job everyone, you sure are doing well with this healthy living subject!!!!!!!

:

 

[gurlpower]

Thanks, Daniela for your kind feedback!! It is appreciated!

Yes, i am prone to eating the heavier stuff at dinner time about 5.30pm.

i eat about 2 eggs per week, and drink milk and stuff. You are probably right about concentrating the stuff i lack.. thanks!

Big smiles!

Cheers!

 

[russian blue]

Originally posted by valanhb
Hubby's back to making excuses that "he's really losing the gut."

How can I tell him in a nice way that he's an idiot? He hasn't worked out in almost 2 months, but somehow still thinks he's losing flab. He's been telling me since I met him, when he weighed about 160 (he was really skinny!) that he's losing weight. He's now at about 280 and somehow is still losing weight. The problem with all this, besides his disillusionment, is that he does the cooking.

It's called tough love Heidi. As you age, it's going to be harder to lose the weight. The sooner you start, the better off you will be! Tell him to go to the doctor and the doctor will tell him how well he is losing weight!

I still think the easiest way not to eat bad food, is to not have those items in your house. It seems most people do their junk food eating at night in front of the television. If you don't have the bad food accessible, you can't eat it!

But, at least for me, I can't totally cut out all the junk food. So I keep minimal amounts (like bite size chocolate rather than whole chocolate bars)around, and fill my fridge with all the fruit, veggies, etc. It's all a matter of moderation.

Also, for the cooking idea, how about introducing 3 new recipes a week? They can be vegetarian or new ethnic recipies. I usually have at least 3 meatless meals a week (and therefore load up on my veggies). Many ethnic recipes are an easy way to introduce low fat tasty foods.

If I were you, I would do my own cooking. Pick 3 nights a week where you will cook (or cook ahead on the weekend)and incorporate better meals. Also, you should really aim to have your largest meal at lunch (or smaller meals throughout the day)since you need that energy for your workday. My dinner is usually a salad or soup because I'm not usually hungry in the evenings.

Right now, I'm in the process of changing my carb dependance over to more veggie meals. It's really hard when you work and you come home exhausted, but planning is the key!

Remember we're here for you!

 

[airprincess]

I commend everyone who's posting here, because just by the fact that you are, shows you strive to be healthy, even if all the puzzle pieces don't fit together at this time.

I made some lifestyle changes a year ago last january. I joined weight watchers. The program really clicked for me and I lost 90lbs.

For me, the water is key. I'm like Heidi, I aim for at least a gallon a day. I usually drink 3-5 liters of water and another liter of hot green tea. It helps keep me feeling full, not to mention keep me from retaining water. My skin looks better than it ever has. The benefits of water are limitless. They say you should have 8, 8 ounce glasses of water a day, but I don't personally think that is enough.

pohchoowan, your diet (meaning what you chose to eat, not a restrictive calorie 'diet') sounds fine to me. If you are healthy, feel good, have loads of energy and feel good about your phyical condition, well then you must be doing something right! I think that is all what we strive for. To feel good and confident about the way we look.

 

[kiwideus]

wow kass, well said!

 

[russian blue]

Kiwi, my family has such a bad record of disease. I have heart disease on my mothers side, my father died of colon cancer, then my mother's problems with a similar disease to Crohns/Ulcerative Colitis. To top it off, my mother was diagnosed with Cervical cancer 7 years ago. Thank goodness they were able to catch it in it's early stages and she's been in remission ever since.

That's why I'm always looking for new research on how to prevent or slow down disease. Also from all my environmental education, it's scary what is out there and what we are consuming. That is why I always stress organic whole foods, staying away from processed & packaged foods, and limiting sugar and white flour.

Having said this, I am not perfect and fall off the healthy living wagon too many times. But I'm human and need the push & boost in will power like everyone else! But the visions of my father wasting away from 220 pounds to skin and bones from cancer is what keeps me wanting to do better for my body.

It's funny that we always want what is best for our cats (ie: no preservatives, fillers, etc.) but how many times do we look at what we are consuming??

 

[valanhb]

Thanks for all the support everyone.

I'm going to try to have a talk with him this weekend and see if we can both get motivated to eat better and perhaps even go exercise. Well, I need to exercise even though I know I can't get him to do it with me. We've had this discussion many times and he always ends up coming up with something more important that he has to do and messes up my workout schedule.

Kass, I would cook for myself but it's a matter of principle that he does the cooking. See, I work full time while he stays home. He doesn't do much if any housework. (I know, I know....) The one thing he does to pull a tiny bit of his own weight is cook dinner. If I start doing that then he literally has no responsibilties besides DJing once a week. I know it may sound like a cop-out on my end, but I'm a real stickler for the principle of things.

Oh, but you did touch on my other big downfall lately, the junk food. (Do you have a camera installed at my house???

:laughing2 ) Recently I've been buying all my favorite junk food, and yup it's sitting right by the couch in front of the TV.

I need to just say no!

 

[bren.1]

I have fallen off the healthy living wagon lately. I wanted to work out tomorrow, but I'm sick, so I guess I'll get started again next week. At least I'm not hungry, so maybe I'll lose a few pounds.

Kellye, other salad ideas: mandarin oranges, almonds or other nuts in moderation, radishes, lite cheese, cucumbers.

Suni Jean, I have several tapes by The Firm. They are really good, you need hand weights and a step, and you get an awesome workout.

Heidi, Do you do the grocery shopping? I try to go by myself because we spend less, and eat healthier. I don't usually buy the junk food. Good luck talking with your hubby.

 

[bren.1]

Just wanted to revive this thread, cause I could use some motivation. I've been trying to exercise more, the good weather helps in that respect. I'm also drinking a lot more water, 10 - 12 glasses each day.

 

[auroraviva]

I haven't seen this thread before, but I'm glad it's here! I'm trying to lose a little weight, too, but right now I can't go outside because of the pollen. (I am taking Claritin, Allegra, Benedryl, AND Tylenol, and still suffering miserably.) So, I'm trying to just eat less than normal, to make up for the fact that I'm not exercising as much.

I have a question, as far as drinking water goes, how does juice fit into the picture? I drink a fair amount of water, but really love juice. I know some have added sugars and stuff that make them unhealthy, but I've found that I actually prefer the kind with no added sugars. This kind of juice generally only has maybe 30 or 40 calories a cup, versus well over 100 calories in most types of juice. (Orange juice has a surprising number of calories.) So, does that go under the "fruit" category, or does it count for some of my water, too?

 

[valanhb]

Not to totally depress anyone, but I finally found how to calculate our Body Mass Index (BMI). This is the "new" way to determine how overweight people are, instead of just the height/weight chart. (Isn't this just a new formula to calculate the same thing???) This is from the Journal of the American Medical Association, as reprinted in the newsletter I get from my insurance every month.

Use your weight in pounds, height in inches.

1. Weight x 705 = A
2. A / height = B
3. B / height = BMI

The ideal is for the BMI to be 23 or below, with health risks rising at 25 and above. I don't even want to tell you what my BMI is right now.

And here I thought I was doing better..... Well, I needed a kick in the pants to get motivated again anyway.

Aurora, I'm not sure how juice counts with regard to water intake. I've always counted it as a fruit, but I have a hard time finding fruits that I like.

Maybe someone on a real program would be able to answer that better.

Brenda, thank you so much for reviving this thread!

 

[myste]

At least on the richard simmons thing, fruit juice is counted as a fruit.

Well, we've fallen off the diet once again. We've been working on a cat tree out at my parents house and eating out there. My mom's a good cook but does old-fashioned cooking, so there's quite a bit of fat. I haven't gained much, I'm still down 5lb from where I was when I started. I've gained and lost the same 3 lbs about 20 times.
We've stopped going to the gym, we're looking at just getting an exercise bike here. hope I can use it more.

 

[bren.1]

I'm trying a new exercise/eating program. It's by Jorge Cruise (he was on Oprah, maybe you saw it, I didn't), and it's called 8 Minutes in the Morning. You start your day with a weight workout, which takes 8 minutes. He also recommends walking or other aerobic activity at some point in the day.

I was going to go back to Weight Watchers, but I think I need a program which stresses exercise, like this one does. I have noticed that when I exercise on a regular basis, I lose more weight, even when I'm not so careful with eating.

Here's a link. I'm trying to ignore the fact that he has an informercial. Learned that after I bought the book.

http://www.jorgecruise.com/

I was telling my s/o about it, and he said, Why bother? He thinks I can't do it, since I've tried before. I actually lost weight, but gained most of it back because I wasn't exercising or keeping track of what I ate. I was very upset with him for saying that. In a way, it's a good thing. If I get a craving for something, I'll think of him, and want to prove him wrong!

I wonder if he thinks I'll leave him if I lose weight. He used to have dreams that I cheated on him, or left him. Maybe he's trying to discourage me from his own fear, who knows. So I will have to rely on all you good people to keep me honest and on track. I'll let you know how the first week went. I'm starting tomorrow.

 

[kiwideus]

Hi Bren!
I have seen this book in the bookstore, but I never bothered to look, what kind of exercises does he recommend? I will look in the library.
Since I have moved, I have access to a 1/2 mile long driveway and I have no excuse not to walk every day!

Ive been spending all weekend outside, great excuse to say to myself, 'time to go for a walk' and to avoid the telly. Besides I was in a neighbourhood where i didnt feel safe walking around, but now Im way out in the country, I intend to walk every day.
I just need friendly reminders LOL!

Good luck bren!