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Old 01-18-2015, 03:19 PM
 
Location: Boca Raton, FL
6,873 posts, read 11,190,451 times
Reputation: 10757

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Picky poor eater here plus could lose a few pounds.

NEG's thread about the gym inspired me to start exercising again and I'm starting very slowly.

I've eliminated some bad habits (bread, potatoes) but my one vice and unfortunately, my (more fit) husband is bad at this one also - ice cream. Trying to shake this - not a yogurt fun unfortunately.

Do you find when you exercise it ever eliminates your want for "something bad?"

What are some secrets to get around cravings?

It seems I get to about 10-14 days and have lost about 6 pounds or so and then lose it - meaning I give in to the cravings.

One guy I know says it takes about 6 weeks for the craving to get out of your system.

My good habits:

Lots of water
Green tea
No fast food - ever (my mom was a dietician; made food from scratch; hated processed food; guess she was ahead of her time)
Love fish, meat, chicken
Love breakfast so right now doing Paleo

My bad habits:

Not a fruit fan - not at all
I'll eat some vegetables but I have to force myself
Love carbs but I'm trying to stay away from them

I got "fresh" bagels one night - it was late - couldn't wait to have one - they were stale - to me, that was gross and now I'm totally turned off by them. Just that one remembrance does it for me with food. I know it's weird but that will help me not eat them - ever!

My 2 children are CrossFit addicts and by July, I want to show them that I'm back to where I used to be - weight wise. I'm small boned but I am carrying around about 40 pounds too much.
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Old 01-18-2015, 03:51 PM
 
Location: Wisconsin
25,597 posts, read 56,285,730 times
Reputation: 23259
Only way to live long-term on a healthy/restricted diet, imo, is to have one "FREE" day each week. Eat anything and as much as you want on this one day. Sundays are generally my free day.

Especially when i worked, by virtue of my schedule and job stress in order to keep up energy and stamina, I could never afford to eat junk or eat badly. But Sunday was my crash day. If I wanted pizza and garlic bread and sweets, I ate them.

On Monday, back to my healthy habits.

Never could eat much in the way of carbs. All I have to do is look at a cake or white bread or anything white made with grains and I gain weight. So, I learned early in life in my 20's, not to eat the stuff.

Also, on ice cream. Watch the commercially prepared ice creams w/their sugars, fructose, etc. Makes a difference, imo. I've been buying Alden's Organic for many years now. Generally, eat a small dish each night with fresh fruit - strawberries, raspberries, blueberries. I will pay the price for fresh and organic. Strong believer in both. Eating ice cream after dinner 3-4 times a week, sometimes more, hasn't hurt me a bit and I haven't gained weight.

Actually, I've lost over 10 lbs this past year, just by reducing the size of the one slice of bread a day I do eat at breakfast (toast/eggs). The "big" loaf price of the crunchy multi-grain bread I buy went to almost $5. Instead, I decided to buy the smaller loaf (same number of slices, just smaller) of the same bread for $3.69. Unintended consequence was a loss of 10 lbs. Quite surprised me that one insignificant change could make such a difference. 10 lbs - who knew?
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Old 01-18-2015, 03:59 PM
 
Location: Boca Raton, FL
6,873 posts, read 11,190,451 times
Reputation: 10757
Smile The sweet day - exactly what I was told to do....

I guess it hasn't been long enough (6 weeks) for me to readjust but once I taste all the "forbidden" items, the next day it's really hard for me to get back to being "good."

I lost 14 pounds in May 2014 and that was good. I wrote down how I felt and it really helped. Now, I need to lose the rest.

I'm OK with doing it slowly but by July, I need to be there (end of July).

After my stale bagel incident, I'm not going near bread again. That kind of cured me on the bread. All I have to do is think about it and it just grosses me out.

When I was around 7 or 8, I was forced to eat the "good" stuff and rebelled. I just hated it and it was just no fun for me.

We've bought gelato (type of ice cream) but usually, my husband likes this ice cream place where they make it there. Amazing stuff. I don't like fruit so I can't do the fruit in the ice cream but my husband would love that - will pass it on.
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Old 01-18-2015, 04:12 PM
 
Location: Wisconsin
25,597 posts, read 56,285,730 times
Reputation: 23259
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bette View Post
I guess it hasn't been long enough (6 weeks) for me to readjust but once I taste all the "forbidden" items, the next day it's really hard for me to get back to being "good."
Oh, indeed. You need more time. Six weeks isn't anywhere near long enough to develop the "habit" when it comes to food.

I lost 30 lbs in my early 20's and swore I'd never go on another diet. That was 50 years ago. So, disciplining my way of eating has been a lifetime habit for me. Early days, yet, for you. You need to find a way to enjoy the 'good' food. I just love my veggies. Love salads. Especially, organic. The taste is so much better, that may be why I can stick to healthy eating. I can't eat empty, processed, refined calories, anymore, at all. Rarely go out to eat, because my own food is always so much better.

Good luck.

Last edited by Ariadne22; 01-18-2015 at 05:31 PM..
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Old 01-18-2015, 05:20 PM
 
5,250 posts, read 4,646,007 times
Reputation: 17352
Seven years into my retirement and I'm resigned to the fact that I don't have a ton of willpower where my diet is concerned. My wife and I had another conversation this AM re: our putting on weight, then dropping a few and then back to the gain. I really think our bodies need to work more, that's easy to say when we're in Mexico or Arizona for some respite from NW weather, walking in the AM sunshine or a long day of just tooling around the areas of town when in those places, but now it's rain/cold again and getting out seems a real chore.

I can't help but think that weather is key to your health in retirement, more so than in your working years. When it's warm I'm not inclined to eat for comfort as much as just seeking nutrition, and it's hard to stay inside when the weather is beautiful. But, talk about excuses, lol. I'm simply going to have to eat less, less calories, less carbs, less booze, less of everything I love and then see if I can really live that way.
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Old 01-18-2015, 05:50 PM
 
Location: Boca Raton, FL
6,873 posts, read 11,190,451 times
Reputation: 10757
Smile It's a struggle

I want my habits to change and basically, I'm willing to put in the time to exercise more if it helps!

Do you find when you exercise it ever eliminates your want for "something bad?"

What are some secrets to get around cravings?

PS -I'm grateful to live in a warm climate.
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Old 01-18-2015, 06:02 PM
 
Location: Central Florida
3,257 posts, read 4,965,781 times
Reputation: 14997
I have no will power. If the ice cream is in my house, I will eat it all at one sitting. So now I just don't buy the stuff. No ice cream, no cake, no cookies, no any of that stuff. It helps that I live alone, so someone else isn't sneaking in the goodies that I don't have the will power not to eat.

When Publix has BOGO Entenmann's or ice cream, I literally have to tell myself, "Don't look at it! Just keep walking!"
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Old 01-18-2015, 06:08 PM
 
14,331 posts, read 14,133,532 times
Reputation: 45575
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bette View Post
Picky poor eater here plus could lose a few pounds.

NEG's thread about the gym inspired me to start exercising again and I'm starting very slowly.

I've eliminated some bad habits (bread, potatoes) but my one vice and unfortunately, my (more fit) husband is bad at this one also - ice cream. Trying to shake this - not a yogurt fun unfortunately.

Do you find when you exercise it ever eliminates your want for "something bad?"

What are some secrets to get around cravings?

It seems I get to about 10-14 days and have lost about 6 pounds or so and then lose it - meaning I give in to the cravings.

One guy I know says it takes about 6 weeks for the craving to get out of your system.

My good habits:

Lots of water
Green tea
No fast food - ever (my mom was a dietician; made food from scratch; hated processed food; guess she was ahead of her time)
Love fish, meat, chicken
Love breakfast so right now doing Paleo

My bad habits:

Not a fruit fan - not at all
I'll eat some vegetables but I have to force myself
Love carbs but I'm trying to stay away from them

I got "fresh" bagels one night - it was late - couldn't wait to have one - they were stale - to me, that was gross and now I'm totally turned off by them. Just that one remembrance does it for me with food. I know it's weird but that will help me not eat them - ever!

My 2 children are CrossFit addicts and by July, I want to show them that I'm back to where I used to be - weight wise. I'm small boned but I am carrying around about 40 pounds too much.
Bette,

I'm about 25 lbs overweight and I'm 55 too.

My weight is not going up though and because I am tall my BMI says I am not obese.

The best advice I could give you is exercise, exercise, and exercise.

I try to briskly walk four miles a day as well as doing my own yard work.

Your breakfast should be something like shredded wheat cereal, low-fat milk, and yogurt. I'll confess that I put some sugar on my shredded wheat.

Lunch should often be vegetarian. I eat a fantastic Thai Curry soup that has no meat in it and its just fresh vegetables and broth some days.

Look carefully at the portions of meat you eat. Can they be reduced? A 4 oz piece of steak or meat is plenty. Maybe you and hubby need to cut a piece of meat that one of you used to eat in half and share it?

Other tips:

1. Give up alcohol (its very caloric)

2. If you drink sugary soft drinks than give them up.

3. Cut the fat off your meat before you eat it.

4. Get more fresh vegetables in your diet. If the ones you like cost more money, than buy them anyway.

5. It was hard for me to eat whole wheat bread, but what I do now is eat a mixture of white and whole wheat. Very good for your system. Improves your odds of not getting colon cancer.

6. Eat out less. Not just fast food, but everywhere. Restaurants serve large portions of food.
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Old 01-18-2015, 06:21 PM
 
Location: University City, Philadelphia
22,634 posts, read 14,874,077 times
Reputation: 15932
Well, the holidays are over ... and ... unfortunately I did put on about 3 or 4 pounds since my last visit to the doctor in late October. It's back to the gym for me ... been there 4 times in the last 10 days.

My doctor is a very skinny lady in her 50's that can't stand obesity. When I put on 4 pounds she scolds and admonishes me, but when I lose 5 pounds she praises me to the high heavens. It's my doctor who motivates me to lose weight ... through shame and intimidation!
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Old 01-18-2015, 06:43 PM
 
48,505 posts, read 96,551,406 times
Reputation: 18301
If you lower your calories you will lose then it will level off as calories in equal calories burned. Then you either cut back more or you excise more. You will in fact likely lose more fluids first few days usually. Cut back slowly and increase exercise over longer period works best to keep it off. Losing fast then regaining is shown to be unhealthy. habits don't die easily. Good Luck
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