Nutrition and exercise!

[ShooShooBaby]

pigeon toe, that sounds like a really tough spot to be in! does the dining hall have a salad bar? i would suggest loading up a plate with salad/raw veggies and fruit, eating that, and then going back for a smaller portion of the cooked stuff. at least with the raw stuff you know exactly what's in it, and it's not soaked in butter or oil or what have you!

i too am trying to slim down! yesterday a friend and i started VBSO2008 - Vintage Bathing Suit Operation 2008. we're drastically cutting junk out and focusing on healthy, fresh foods without being TOO strict or anal-retentive. i'm starting out at 160 pounds, 39-34-39 measurements, with the goal of 140 pounds and at least 3 inches off my waist. we're keeping food diaries, which i think is really going to help. in addition to listing foods, i'm listing WHEN i'm eating, and then writing observations about what's working to keep me feeling satisfied and energetic, and what needs improvement. we're keeping in touch every day, and once a week we'll get together for a nice dessert! it's only the second full day but i feel great, and i shopped last night so my fridge and cupboard are full of healthy, portable snacks, since i eat the worst when i'm at work and school. we are going to be SO HOT in (you guessed it) our vintage bathing suits this summer!!

 

[jayem]

How do you ladies practice self-control when it comes to junk food? That's the really big problem for me. I bought a jar of Nutella the other day and ate half of it in one sitting. I know the easy option is to just not buy it, but when encountered with sweets, what do you do to stop yourself from going crazy?

In defense, Nutella is godly. I could probably eat a whole jar in an hour! Dip pretzels in it, or spread it on a Ritz. You'll die and be in heaven!

When I grocery shop and see sweets, I sit there for a minute with the package in my hand and remember how sullen I'll be after I eat the whole thing. This tends to make me want to put the package down and venture into the produce section.
At night, I'll purposely take all my sleep aide early so I'll be too sleepy to really eat or be hungry for anything.
If I'm super craving something fatty like super rich ice cream or something fried, I'll meticulously paint my nails so I can't use my hands for a bit and the craving will pass.
Sometimes I'll break my little traps, but in the end I'll just remember tomorrow is a new day and maybe then I can eat a bit more healthy.

 

[Smuterella]

ok. Now you just make me wanna cry.

oh, that wasn't my intention, everyone is different, and the way I carry weight when I put it on means that every bit of weight seems to go to my stomach resulting in me rather frequently getting mistaken for pregnant. While thats great for getting a seat on public transport it is rather confidence bashing.

I have changed shape from a UK size 8 at 16 years old (US size 4?) to being a UK size 14 at almost 30 years old (US size 10?). And while I am now probably still smaller than average I just don't feel like myself anymore. And it isn't good weight gain either, its fat not muscle.

[huh]

 

[shooshoobaby1]

PT, I know this sounds drastic, but I have been addicted, really addicted to sweets for years. If I find myself eating too much of them, then I let myself have one last day to eat whatever it is I want, then I cut them out of my diet completely for at least two weeks. This usually forces me to eat healthy things again, and when I do get to have some sugar later, I don't want near as much.

 

[Ada Veen]

oh, that wasn't my intention, everyone is different, and the way I carry weight when I put it on means that every bit of weight seems to go to my stomach resulting in me rather frequently getting mistaken for pregnant. While thats great for getting a seat on public transport it is rather confidence bashing.

I know, mine all goes on my stomach. ugh! I hate it. Full skirts and high waists are the only answer.

 

[miserabelle]

I occasionally do my New York City Ballet DVD which is really good and pretty exhausting, I walk everywhere pretty much... I have a pretty hefty walk to uni and I climb which I'm getting more and more into... I would love skinnier legs but none of these things are gonna help me there though!

I'm vegetarian but I pretty much eat what I want which happens to be largely healthy but I put too much olive oil onto my food haha. I have a pretty sweet tooth really. xx

 

[Naama]

How do you ladies practice self-control when it comes to junk food? That's the really big problem for me. I bought a jar of Nutella the other day and ate half of it in one sitting. I know the easy option is to just not buy it, but when encountered with sweets, what do you do to stop yourself from going crazy?

Try to be really hard on yourself and just don't buy it! I don't know, but for me it comes very, very rarely that I buy any sweets by myself, because I exactly know that I will eat all at one! (and then again, I feel a bit ashamed when I buy them (if you've once been a fat girl, you'll always feel like a fat girl) I think not having those things is the only way to not eating them.... And for the dining hall meals, try to keep them small in portion, and if you snack, only snack fruits and vegetables. So you can cut a lot of calories, which you probably take in with the dining hall meals. Cut on calories, cut on calories, thats the whole secret to losing weight! Oh, and yes, drink water, stay away from juices! Hope you'll get better. And don't get too depressed, you will get rid of that extra pounds if you go back to you're usual food again!


Naama

 

[olive bleu]

oh, that wasn't my intention, everyone is different, and the way I carry weight when I put it on means that every bit of weight seems to go to my stomach resulting in me rather frequently getting mistaken for pregnant. While thats great for getting a seat on public transport it is rather confidence bashing.

I have changed shape from a UK size 8 at 16 years old (US size 4?) to being a UK size 14 at almost 30 years old (US size 10?). And while I am now probably still smaller than average I just don't feel like myself anymore. And it isn't good weight gain either, its fat not muscle.

[huh]

I know what you mean.I did mean it lightly I agree with you as well.There have been times when i have been walking around refusing cookies, and eating lettuce and my friends who were already 30 lbs heavier than me wanted to kick me.But i think we each know what weight we need to be to feel our best and that's what's important.It's not the number on the measuring tape or on the scale.If i have a closet full of clothes that i can't get on and i am tired all the time, obviously i need to make some changes.But good health is not one size fits all.

 

[i_am_the_scruff]

I can vouch for this one just by visiting for a few days last summer. The only city I ever went to where at then end of the day when I blew my nose it came out black. Icky! That's something I wish we had more of in the US, though... walking! More public transport, more bicycles, all of our cities seems to be so spread out that it makes it difficult to do that.

I have to say, America, in my experience, alot of people hate walking. One example - My mum and I went to visit a friend in Kansas. One day we went to her daughters house, and when me and mum mum said we'd walk back to our friend's house they couldn't believe it and insited on giving us a lift..

..The house was about a 45 second walk away.
I also read a column or something like that by an English man who moved to America, and when they invited their new next door neighbours for dinner they drove.


I know it's not like that everywhere, in places like New York you can get around well by walking. But wow.. no wonder there's so many obese people in America.


Anywho, I don't diet or exercise really but I should. I'm a UK size 14 and I have no problem with being that size - I just wish I wasn't so.. chubby. I'm naturally bigger. I have wide hips, broadish shoulders and big busted. I just wish my thighs were smaller and I had a flatter tummy.

I don't eat any Mcdonalds or anything like that.. but I do like sweets. that's probably where the chubby comes in.

 

[Miss 1929]

Carbohydrates

are the problem, whether in sweets or starches. I have always CRAVED them, all my life!
I have had skinny periods (working in a vintage store surrounded by mirrors and tiny clothing certainly helped!), but in the past 15 years, I have put on 60 pounds, that is half again my body weight. As I am small boned, it doesn't look as bad as it is, but the Shadow knows.
However! I just started on medication for ADD, that seems to have the very pleasant side effect of making me want different foods! Maybe because my brain is working better, I am not trying to jack myself up on the sugar rush. Whatever, I come home and go "I think I'll have a salad! And some fish!" where I used to hit the chips and crackers and cookies. That stuff hardly appeals to me now! I still get hungry and eat, I just eat different.
And I've lot 6 pounds in 10 days!!! without even thinking about it. So maybe in a year or so... I can wear some of my nice old stuff, I have a range of size 2 to 16 in my closet...

 

[pigeon toe]

Thanks for all the tips ladies! I'm definitely going to try harder to do portion control.

I feel it's pretty much a lost cause to try and lose weight while I'm here! I have about a month and a half until I'm back home, and that's when I'm sure I'll be able to get things under control again. No more Nutella for now though!

 

[Mojito]

I find portion control really difficult to judge and exert control on, as it depends on where I am in the training schedule. If I'm gearing up for, say, a half-marathon, all I crave is complex carbs and a bit of protein, and lots of it. Then, when I'm on maintenance running (or, God forfend, injured), I should adjust my intake...but often don't. So my weight cycles up and down based on where I am in the racing year. It can change quite radically - at the moment I'm a good five kilos or so up from where I'm happiest, but I'm about to enter winter training so it'll hopefully come off.

 

[olive bleu]

Thanks for all the tips ladies! I'm definitely going to try harder to do portion control.

I feel it's pretty much a lost cause to try and lose weight while I'm here! I have about a month and a half until I'm back home, and that's when I'm sure I'll be able to get things under control again. No more Nutella for now though!

oh my. Nutella.shakeshead

I bought a jar of this yumminess for the first time a couple months ago, thinking my kids would like it.Of course they hate it.So guess who has eaten practically the whole jar?? It is fabulous on plain,salted rice crackers.The salt/sweet combo is dangerous.

 

[Miss 1929]

oh my. Nutella.shakeshead

I bought a jar of this yumminess for the first time a couple months ago, thinking my kids would like it.Of course they hate it.So guess who has eaten practically the whole jar?? It is fabulous on plain,salted rice crackers.The salt/sweet combo is dangerous.

Especially on rice cakes! Those are actually SO unhealthy! They are so processed that they break down into sugar almost instantly.
But yum, with Nutella... I would probably eat anything with Nutella on it.

 

[miserabelle]

I've started to buy pretzels quite a lot lately which I've discovered are amazingly good in a weird way with nutella... I'm pretty lucky that the weight stays off, I just feel yucky afterwards.

My diet needs an overhaul xx

 

[Paisley]

Try eating five or six small meals a day. A meal is one portion of carbs and one portion of protein. (A portion is about the size of your clenched fist.)

If there's no good place to exercise, get an aerobic step and make a tape (or program your CD player or MP3 player) to play some music that makes you feel like dancing. Then just go up and down on the step--you don't need an instructor. Do that three times a week for about 20 minutes. Ideally, your exercise routine should leave you in a sweat.

 

[Naama]

Try eating five or six small meals a day. A meal is one portion of carbs and one portion of protein. (A portion is about the size of your clenched fist.)

Oh, these days I have such a hard time with portion control... Somehow, when I start to eat, I just can't stop (and now I also have problems with my stomache and I'm bloated anyway....). It's not THAT bad, since I know how to eat a lot for like 200kcal, but it just doesn't really make me feel good and I'm more then heavily bloated all the time



Naama

 

[Smuterella]

Well its day one of my healthy eating thing, and I'm managing OK so far. I've had a greek yoghurt with honey, orange juice, pistachio nuts, an orange, a pear, some lentil soup and for dinner a roast salmon fillet and a baked potato with salad

Can you see my halo?

I give it a week...

 

[Rockapin-up]

GRRRRR

I'm starting to spill out of my clothes and look 7 months pregnant. And yes I have been mistaken for being pregnant. I'm gonna start the portion control and am dusting off my bike to ride around the neighborhood. That's how I lost weight a few years ago but I didn't keep it up. Being consistent with excercise is my problem. At least i'v managed to stay away from the lunch truck at work

 

[alexandra]

Kay so I watched that "I CAN MAKE YOU THIN!" guy on tv which was total cheese, but when I actually tried what he suggested it was like...awesome. I actually felt full really fast and stayed full for a long time.

If only I didn't love food so much. His trick for that didn't work for me. Sometimes I can't stop thinking "there's chocolate in the kitchen" over and over and over and I can't think of anything else until I eat it. And when I do eat I just feel so happy, it's like this deep satisfaction inside me.

The worst part is, I don't even have that thing where people feel guilty about eating, or think "I use it as a substitute for blah blah" it's like...I genuinely feel glad that I'm eating all this delicious food.