Let's lose a bit of weight

[smallblueplanet]

I haven't done too bad so far. Have been weighing out pasta portions etc and being strict about it!

Made some chicken and sweetcorn soup for this week's lunch, and am planning on some spicy squash soup too.

Am struggling this afternoon with wanting chocolate though. Don't know whether I should go and get a small bar, or try and ignore the urge completely!

Get a small bar - or a big bar and have a few squares - you have to be able to enjoy how you eat else it won't work long term. When you get used to eating/drinking smaller portions then a 'blow out' every now & then won't matter. Your body knows when you're 'withholding' food from it btw and will 'hang onto' what its already got!

[marigold007]

Have you tried Options?

I was good this morning and had a pink grapefruit, a hard boiled egg, and no sugar in my coffee.

[Alison]

Errr, shouldn't this tell you something? A diet isn't something you should do every six months...

I was going to say that but thought I'd get shouted at - feeling braver now that it's not just me

[Glutton4...]

Errr, shouldn't this tell you something? A diet isn't something you should do every six months...

I followed the Atkins diet about four years ago, and found it suited my tastes and lifestyle, and I enjoyed it - Dr. Atkins once said 'It's a diet, not a punishment!' I don't have the time or patience to sit and measure out two ounces of bran flakes or forty grains of rice (OK, I now I'm exaggerating LOL), and I'm not the Chef in this house!

Sadly, my weight has crept back up over the last couple of years, so I think it's time I had another go at losing it.

...struggling this afternoon with wanting chocolate though. Don't know whether I should go and get a small bar, or try and ignore the urge completely!

I used to be a Chocoholic - thanks to Atkins I lost the 'urge,' in fact I find most Chocolate bars now taste like sugary lard!

To wean myself off Chocolate when I loved the stuff, I'd buy 5 or 6 different flavoured bars (Orange Aero, Double Decker, a minty thing like Fry's Chocolate Cream etc) and eat the lot, making myself feel so sick that I wouldn't fancy any for months! I agree it's a little extreme, but it worked for me!

[BarleySugar]

Atkins worked for me, cholesterol went down, blood pressure etc, but I gradually 'slid' back into normal eating. I have to say I never went really low on the carbs, I cut out bread, pasta (better for me, with a slight wheat intolerance), but still ate lower carb veggies. I did find it expensive, and I think that was one of the reasons for the slide. The rest of the family wanted the same, but with the carb

Now I've been with ww for 9 months and shifted 2 stone. I know I'm still paying out, but I do it monthly and I count it as a 'hobby' or club membership. Nothing is 'forbidden', but it needs fitting into what else is eaten in the week, which is how it should be anyway. I just try at the moment to eat a bit less than I need. Hopefully, because I do still have another 2 stone to go at least, I will be so used to the 'diet' that it will cease to be a diet, but will be the norm.

One Show - Evolutionary reasons for getting fat, you need to eat plenty when food is available in the summer, ready for famine in the winter or you would die.
Ghrelin levels - hunger hormone, take 30 minutes to switch the 'full up' hormone on. Eating slowly helps. Nothing new there, but I ate some pumpkin seeds the other day, from my own pumpkins. I had to peel each individually to get at the edible part. If I had bought a packet at the shop, I could have eaten it in less than half the time it took to eat a tenth of the amount.

[smallblueplanet]

Sadly, my weight has crept back up over the last couple of years, so I think it's time I had another go at losing it.

I put my weight on giving up smoking and then not really realising just how much a 'portion' is - I don't do crazy diets, whats the point as you've shown you just put the weight back on!

I quite like chocolate, not the cak cheapo kind, but anyway I only eat small amounts because if I ate more well then that would take away the pleasure of eating it entirely, so what would be the point?

Try eating a healthy balanced diet - start with 5-a-day that might help...

[WrexTheDragon]

I joined the free Web site Free Diet Plans at SparkPeople and have found it to work very well.

It was the portion size that was causing me a problem, I enter my meal that I am going to eat and see how it comes out, then reduce some of the ingredients to get the correct nutritional values.

It also has a very good video section.

[Mac]

Hey Wrex, I joined the Sparkpeople site too as it's really good for exercise information aswell as diet stuff. i did really well before the festive season, then that on top of being snowed in for a week has sort of scuppered all the good work achieved! Good behaviour resumes this week!

[Two_Sheds]

Am struggling this afternoon with wanting chocolate though. Don't know whether I should go and get a small bar, or try and ignore the urge completely!

I used to be a Chocoholic - thanks to Atkins I lost the 'urge,' in fact I find most Chocolate bars now taste like sugary lard!

I used to live on minty Aeros etc, now I don't enjoy chocolate at all, not even the good stuff.* Your taste buds can change, and I think there may well be an element of addiction involved too (to sugar though, not chocolate per se).

If you want a treat, make yourself earn it: walk to the shop, buy a small bar, and enjoy it.
If you want to be really strict, work out how many calories your walk will burn, and only eat that much chocolate.


* however, if there's a box of Maltesers in the house I can't rest until they're all gone

[Two_Sheds]

It was the portion size that was causing me a problem

I've bought smaller plates for us, and that's really helped cut down the portions without OH even noticing he's getting less food.

I don't cook more than we need either: I have scoops which measure out a portion of rice/pasta/whatever.

Cheese never seems to come in the right size: a portion is only matchbox size So it's used as a topping, not a main ingredient.

I've already lost a bit from my middle squidge, just by cutting out rubbish, and doing the 3 mile walk or cycle every day. I feel healthier too, less blurgh.

I've bought some exercise DVDs from eBay too (�3 delivered), which should sort out the rainy days exercise

[janeyo]

I'm afraid I had MAD WOMAN NEEDING CHOCOLATE moment last night.

After spending almost 3 hours and managing to put 3 strips of wallpaper up (this is less than half the wall that it is going onto), I couldn't seem to help myself. It was either the chocolate or kill someone.

Luckily the choc is now gone and I don't buy it, we just get given it in vast quantities at xmas so there is hope for me yet.

[annacruachan]

I put my weight on giving up smoking and then not really realising just how much a 'portion' is - I don't do crazy diets, whats the point as you've shown you just put the weight back on!

Try eating a healthy balanced diet - start with 5-a-day that might help...

Unfortunately eating a healthy, balanced diet doesn't do the trick, SBP. Most people with long term weight problems need something that will jump-start the process, giving them confirmation that they can actually lose weight.

It's usually more a question of psychology than knowledge and willpower, and it's hard. Losing half a pound a week on a healthy balanced diet when you have several stone to shift seems like a pointless exercise after a couple of weeks; and, yes, this failure to be strong makes you feel pretty worthless. But for many people that's the way it is and we have to live with it.

Diet plans like Atkins are the saviour of many a person. If you look at it carefully (ie read the book) you will see that it is not at all crazy but a diet for life. The word diet is only a shorthand for what we eat after all.

[Pumpkin Becki]

I wish certain people would stop giving me chocolate at work!! I have no willpower, and my figure will go from hourglass to snowglobe before long!!

[Jeanied]

I get tempted at about 3pm by the cake/ biscuits doing the rounds at work - so unfair of colleagues: sometimes I put a post-it on my forehead saying NIL BY MOUTH but they still try and tempt (sadists).

[Two_Sheds]

I've just done my exercise DVD. Wow. I have no co-ordination whatsoever!
I'm so grateful I was in my sitting room, not in a class, lol

I'm running with sweat & I've kicked the sofa a few times, but it's exhilarating.. oh no, now the evil cow is making us do press-ups