A Healthier Me in 2016

[email protected] said:
Girls - I need some help; I am so frustrated. I have stayed in my calorie range but the scale is not moving (gain a pound; loose a pound). I have been at this plateau for 3 weeks.

Any suggestions for reving my body up?
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I agree with a lot Marie said. Make sure you aren't overeating the healthy fats like nuts, nut butters, avacodos, etc. Some people get stuck on too much fruit too. Maybe add some more veggies in place. Also, I don't know what kind of exercise you are doing but maybe adding some weight training or mixing up your exercise routine might help. Make sure you are drinking enough water. Hope that helps.
 
LeeAndra said:
I passed my first BIG TEST tonight! *fistpump*

We were supposed to go to a Mexican restaurant where I had already planned out what I was going to eat but at the last minute it got changed to Red Robin (a hamburger place). Ladies, I could eat my weight in bacon cheeseburgers. ZOMG. They are one of my very favorite foods.

I ordered a chicken sandwich without dressing AND didn't eat any of the fries that came with my meal.

:w00t::w00t::w00t:
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Yay, LeeAndra! Awesome job staying on track. Don't those little victories make you proud of yourself? I know they do for me. Eating out is one of the hardest things for me because it is so easy to say "it is only one meal" and "I'll get back on track after this".
 
Libby Pritchett said:
Tracie, that's great!!!

And I so hear you on eating out. My mindset used to be that if we were going out, I should "treat" myself to something, but we went out so often that it was really the norm more than a treat.

The true test came for me a few weeks ago when we went to a Mexican restaurant. In the past, I would've ordered something covered in cheese with rice & refried beans and eaten my weight in tortilla chips. Instead, I ordered some chicken fajitas dry (not cooked in oil) in lettuce wraps instead of a tortilla. I just used a little dab of sour cream and guac and avoided the tortilla chips altogether. You know what? It tasted AMAZING, and I didn't go over my points for the day.

We're going to weigh in later this evening. I *should* hit the 20 lb mark tonight. So excited!
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Good job on the Mexican food. I always would get a chimichanga with cheese, sour cream, guacamole and probably my weight in chips and salsa. No wonder I have a weight problem. ;) Good thing I'm changing my ways. I didn't think to ask for lettuce wraps. I will have to remember that. Hope your weigh in went well.
 
Thanks Tracie! It did! I lost another 1.2 for a total of 21 now! I love seeing that number change each week. It doesn't have to be a lot... I'm just glad to see progress!
 
LeeAndra - yay for you! Mexican food is my weakness, as is Chinese food....oh...and pizza too (ugh...the list goes on and on).

I try to remember that a calorie is a calorie (within reason b/c what you eat does make a difference in how your body uses it).

I am in a transition phase. I am not counting calories, am not weighing myself everyday (like I used to) but am paying attention to what I eat and trying to avoid empty calories, but also paying attention to how many foods I eat that have high fat/calories. So I eat lots of veggies, normal portion of meat (or sometimes less), keep grain and dairy lowish, with a bit of fat at every meal (mostly avocado, grape seed or coconut oil) and limit my intake of fruits and nuts. I also watch my starches and don't eat potatoes or rice more than 2-3 times a week. So far so good. This balance seems to be working for me.
 
Jumping in! I've been doing my post baby physio 3x daily and it paid off with over a 1kg (2lbs) lost this week :
Are you girls all on My Fitness Pal? I'm mshanhun there and would love some new friends in my feed to keep my motivated


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Libby Pritchett said:
I love to see everyone chiming in here!! :wub:

Still rocking and rolling over here. As of this week's weigh-in, I'm down 19.8 lbs... soooooooooo close to that 20 lb mark! I feel confident I'll hit it next week. I'm feeling good, not hungry, no junk cravings, and I'm actually enjoying our morning exercise.

And a little NSV (non-scale victory), I actually had 2 people comment at church that they noticed I was losing weight. I still don't see much of a difference in myself (though my husband says he does), so it was nice to know that other people are noticing.
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It's great when people notice!


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Congrats on the loss this week Libby! I am down 3.8 pounds this week. I am super happy with that. I have a lot going on this weekend so it is going to take some effort to stay on track. I'm going to do my very best to do that.
 
down 1 pound since the end of February -- March has not been a good month for me but I guess it is better than gaining weight.

I have really been trying to improve my steps/exercise in March so I want to believe that I am gaining muscle mass which will help me loose weight (burn fat).

Now just get through Easter without gaining 3+ pounds and I will be good. I have already decided I am going to enjoy the Easter holiday without worrying about counting food. The good thing is I am preparing the dinner so I can watch what goes in the food and try to keep low calories.
 
Tracie, congrats on a great loss! That's super awesome!

Debbie, I know it's easy to get discouraged, but you are so right that losing 1 lb is definitely better than gaining! I wonder if you need to change things up a bit? Do you find that you're eating the same foods every day, getting the same amount of calories, doing the same exercises? Sometimes you just need to shake it up a little and add in a few more calories one day or try a new exercise program. That can sometimes help jumpstart things again. Also, be sure you're drinking enough water. For me, when I start to stall, water is the only thing that helps me. You should take your current weight in lbs, divide that number in half, and drink that amount in ounces. It sounds like a lot of water, but it really DOES help.

As for me, I had a pretty good week last week... I am now down a total of 23.2 lbs. :) This week, however, I'm hoping just to stay the same (obviously I'd prefer to lose, but I'll take a "not gaining" week.) I've splurged a couple of different times... pretty big splurges... and my daughter is here for spring break this week. So, she and I will be going out for iced lattes and shopping one day. But ultimately, I want to live my life, and the fact of the matter is that I'm GOING to have splurges throughout life. So, I need to learn to have them in moderation and get right back on track. That's why I'm just gonna be glad for no gain this week! LOL
 
That is so true Libby! I have found that everything in moderation makes you stick to something better. I have just decided to eat healthier and exercise when I can and I have been feeling much better. We have been eating more veggies here in this household and not a lot of starches since my dad has diabetes and starches (specifically potatoes) are so bad for him. I have been making the roasted veggies of onions, red potatoes/sweet potatoes and carrots with a smidge of olive oil and some Mrs. Dash Original seasoning and they are to die for and my family keeps asking that I make them over and over again.

I was pretty down for the count 2 weeks ago as I caught a nasty C. Diff. infection and got severely dehydrated and had to go into my doctor's office for some IV fluids. So I am still catching up as I am still a little under the weather and recovering. Boy did it ever take a toll on me. I have not been that sick since I was a baby. So, I am pretty sure I lost some weight with not eating for 7+ days except for the occasional rice boiled in chicken broth. I have not weighed since I have been sick.

Went to the grocery store today and bought a lot of fruits (fresh pineapples and cantaloupe). I am proud that I am making smarter and healthier choices.
 
I'm making Easter dinner on the weekend so am starting to think of the menu now so I can make it healthy but with a bit of a splurge. I want to make a veggie casserole and another veggie dish to go with the scalloped potatoes and ham.
 
Jennifer, I'm SO sorry to hear that you've been so very sick!! Sounds like it's gonna take a little time to recover from that much illness. *BIG HUGS* Glad you're on the mend!
 
Sounds like everyone is at least putting in effort to not totally go off the rails lately! :D I'm down 21 pounds and feel pretty great. My sugar cravings are honestly gone and I don't even have the urge to splurge, which I LOVE! I've been sticking to making my meals for the week every Sunday, which helps so much with portion control (and no time spent in the kitchen at night other than warming up dinner since Cheyanne eats them also). Jenn and Kristin - I've been lazy about posting my recipes on my FB group page - I'm going to post some today! :D

We're having our monthly Sunday dinner at my parents' this coming weekend and everyone is omni except for me, so I'll be bringing my whole food options, including a lemon blueberry "cheesecake" to celebrate spring. Of course it actually has no cheese or dairy of any kind but they're game for trying it. I'm also making a Brussels sprouts and quinoa salad with dried cranberries and orange vinaigrette and deviled potatoes - little baby potatoes stuffed with a hummus filling to eat in place of deviled eggs (I hated eggs even before I went vegan!)
 
Marie, while I'm not vegan, my hubby makes a delicious banana lime vegan cheesecake. You can't even tell that it doesn't have any dairy in it, and everyone RAVES about it. So, I bet your lemon blueberry one is amazing, too!

I should point out that my splurges this week were more about situations than about real desires. I don't mind splurging when I've really got a craving for something (which hasn't happened in a long time). But this week, my splurges were all results of being out with other people. And honestly, in each case, even though I splurged, it was on a MUCH smaller scale than what it used to be regularly. So, I'm still counting it as a victory. But today, I'm chugging water and making only clean, healthy choices.
 
Oh I hope I didn't sound condescending about splurges Libby! I'm just so happy that for me it's so much easier now - I would never judge someone else since I've been there 1000 times before!
 
Oh no no, not at all. :) I try to follow the 90/10 rule... if 90% of my choices are healthy, I don't mind that extra 10. But this week has been more like 80/20, and I definitely need to reel it in a bit. LOL The situational stuff is still a struggle for me. I have a hard time saying "no thanks" when I'm in a situation where others are having something "bad." So, I'm definitely a work-in-progress. LOL
 
mariewilcox said:
little baby potatoes stuffed with a hummus filling to eat in place of deviled eggs
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OMG! Do you have a recipe for this?

Deviled eggs are probably the one thing I miss (crazy as that sounds) Holidays for me that is what I was most excited about. However i LOVE potatoes and hummus soo if there is a recipe for this i'd love to try it!
 
Marie - I agree about losing the sugar cravings once you've been away from them for awhile. I am awful, if I have some, it starts up a steady stream of cravings and I really struggle to resist. But if I stay away from them for a week then I hardly even think about it. Luckily, I'm in the "hardly thinking about it" stage.
 
Libby Pritchett said:
Oh no no, not at all. :) I try to follow the 90/10 rule... if 90% of my choices are healthy, I don't mind that extra 10. But this week has been more like 80/20, and I definitely need to reel it in a bit. LOL The situational stuff is still a struggle for me. I have a hard time saying "no thanks" when I'm in a situation where others are having something "bad." So, I'm definitely a work-in-progress. LOL
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Yeah, the situational stuff is hard and then everyone saying oh, you only live once, something's gonna kill ya might as well eat what you want, etc.
 
bcgal00 said:
Marie - I agree about losing the sugar cravings once you've been away from them for awhile. I am awful, if I have some, it starts up a steady stream of cravings and I really struggle to resist. But if I stay away from them for a week then I hardly even think about it. Luckily, I'm in the "hardly thinking about it" stage.
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Good for you Rae! For me it's sugar and oils (aka chips and the like) - Now that I don't cook with oil I have an aversion to it and if I do eat some (salad dressing or something at a restaurant) it makes me feel like crap for a couple days, which is a great incentive to avoid it in the first place! :D
 
Hi, guys! Marie and Libby, your desserts sound wonderful. I splurged this weekend on Mexican food. I knew better but I got right back on track which is a good thing. I am down 13 pounds after 3 weeks so that is still motivating me to push through and keep going. I am trying to eat less meat during the week. I will see how that goes. I've never been a huge fan of meat anyway. I could easily live off of carbs alone but people have always pushed me to eat more protein. I do like dairy though. That one is a little harder for me to give up. I am going to try to eat a little less though.

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TracerM said:
Hi, guys! Marie and Libby, your desserts sound wonderful. I splurged this weekend on Mexican food. I knew better but I got right back on track which is a good thing. I am down 13 pounds after 3 weeks so that is still motivating me to push through and keep going. I am trying to eat less meat during the week. I will see how that goes. I've never been a huge fan of meat anyway. I could easily live off of carbs alone but people have always pushed me to eat more protein. I do like dairy though. That one is a little harder for me to give up. I am going to try to eat a little less though.

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13 pounds is great! I gave up meat 34 years ago and really don't miss it at all. Dairy was harder to give up for me, well not milk, but cheese and ice cream. Did you know that cheese is as addictive as opiates? No wonder it's so hard to give up! I still eat ice cream made from coconut milk or almond milk though and the same with yogurt. Even my teen daughter gave up dairy and her skin is so much better now :) Carbs aren't the devil (unless you're only eating cookies, cake, and processed simple carbs) and Americans eat way more than enough protein; unfortunately protein is the "in thing" right now and people have been led to believe they need tons of protein and no carbs. Great books on the subject are Proteniaholic, How Not to Die, and The Starch Solution. I'm not saying everyone should stop eating meat or dairy, that's a personal decision of course, but most people eat more than enough.
 
mariewilcox said:
13 pounds is great! I gave up meat 34 years ago and really don't miss it at all. Dairy was harder to give up for me, well not milk, but cheese and ice cream. Did you know that cheese is as addictive as opiates? No wonder it's so hard to give up! I still eat ice cream made from coconut milk or almond milk though and the same with yogurt. Even my teen daughter gave up dairy and her skin is so much better now :) Carbs aren't the devil (unless you're only eating cookies, cake, and processed simple carbs) and Americans eat way more than enough protein; unfortunately protein is the "in thing" right now and people have been led to believe they need tons of protein and no carbs. Great books on the subject are Proteniaholic, How Not to Die, and The Starch Solution. I'm not saying everyone should stop eating meat or dairy, that's a personal decision of course, but most people eat more than enough.
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It was a true OMG WHAT?! moment for me when I watched the documentary forks over knives.

Thanks for the recipe!!
 
Marie, I am actually reading proteinaholic right now. It makes sense but it is hard to still wrap my mind around. Everyone says one way to eat is the best and there are so many opinions and studies out there. Sonetimes it is overwhelming. You know what I mean? I used to eat vegan for a while and my trainer took me off and told me I needed protein. I am trying to move more in that direction again. I have been trying to find all of my old recipes. I think cheese is the hardest for me to give up. I love cheese. I have done it before though. I like almond milk and coconut milk ice cream so no problem there.

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Very true, there is so much info out there. The thing I loved about Proteinaholic was all documented studies and the explanations of how the studies work (as a former scientist I love data - LOL). I track my protein intake on MFP and I get more than enough every day through plants-based foods; it's very hard for someone in the US to not get enough.
 
Marie, I notice that a lot of plant based recipes don't list serving size. I am bad about portion control so I need serving suzes. How do you handle that?

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TracerM said:
Marie, I notice that a lot of plant based recipes don't list serving size. I am bad about portion control so I need serving suzes. How do you handle that?

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Hmmm, I use mostly Happy Herbivore recipes from their blog and cookbooks and they always have serving size and nutrition info... Where are you getting your recipes?
 
I had been looking on the internet. I will check those out. Thanks.

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How's everyone doing?

I had a slow couple of weeks with some bad choices, but I'm staying on track for the most part. We weigh in tonight, and I'm hoping to hit the 25 lb mark. I was at 24 last week, and I think I can do it!
 
Libby...that's awesome! I feel good this week. Had a high calorie weekend with the Easter dinner and goodies but for the rest of the week I've been eating healthy, no snacking after dinner and have eaten lots of veggies. So I may not have lost this week but I'm pretty sure I haven't gained, so I'll take that as a win :)
 
I'm doing well. Over Spring Break we went to Disney World, and I was worried about the 9 days of all restaurant food (2 days of driving each way plus 5 days there). I let myself have a few "bad" meals and treats but made the healthiest choices I could the rest of the time. Between that and all the walking (15,000-19,000 steps a day on our 5 theme park days) I didn't gain. :) I'm actually amazed I didn't. I had to stop tracking by the 2nd day because seeing how high the numbers were compared to what they usually were was really bothering me. We've been home since Sunday, so things are back to normal now with tracking and eating.

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Rae, that is definitely a win! Easter was hard for me... the candy just about did me in. Did I mention I have a sweet tooth?

Rachel! Girl, that is AWESOME!!! I'm super imressed that you took such a major vacation and didn't gain!

We had our weigh-in last night, and to my surprise, I was actually down 2.4 lbs for a total of 26.4! SO happy to hit the 25 lb mark and now I'm looking 30 square in the eye. LOL
 
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