Hello All !!! Welcome to ... Me :)

Hi hun!

Firstly don't feel bad about your diet! You need to go at a pace you feel comfortable and my diet certainly isn't perfect but I do think Camy is right that sometimes eating breakfast food for breakfast may be best!

Obviously if you keep in calories then you are fine... BUT generally when people have coffee in the morning it fuels them with caffeine. This has some problems but at least for a diet it has no sugar. If you drink Mountain dew or eat sweet pineapply rice, you are getting that buzz as a sugar high! And what comes up, must come down! Then you need to keep that buzz high with more sugar. Same for sweet sauces and things. Obviously starting with changing to the coke zero but you may want to try weaning yourself off soda first thing in the morning! Diet soda is full of artificial sweeteners and all that. But like I said - baby steps to get there. Don't try to do it all at once and then fall off.

The thing is that all the foods you are eating are calorie dense and so it seems like you can't eat a lot - half a pb&j sandwich? That's not enough. And it's not really full of all the nutrients that your body needs. You may want to try making some meals with salads on the side or I love dense comfort foods so I make low fat versions - like lasagne or casseroles. You can always serve your husband a double portion or add fries to the side of his while you have salad. It's just that there are almost no vegetables in your diet at all.

If you are eating breakfast with your husband - maybe you could make him what we in England call an 'all day breakfast' - you have poached eggs, toast, mushrooms etc, he can have fries on the side, beans, sausages, bacon etc or he can have steak and fries and mushrooms. Or you could cook a stir fry for him but use similar raw ingredients for you (veg, mushrooms, chicken or some light protein) and scramble it with some egg.

I don't think you want to lose the closeness of the meal but I don't think eating dinner and a can of coke every morning is the best thing for you in the long run.
 
Aww just saw what you posted on my thread

I posted this:

You are such a sweetheart! I completely understand because it is difficult for other people to get it and it is overwhelming to have it feel like it is starting from scratch. But this is a great board and you definitely have support here so just ask!

Cooking in bulk helped me a LOT so if you have the opportunity, try it.

Seriously hun, it can be so overwhelming but it doesn't have to be. Any questions, there are loads of amazing people around who know all (not me but I'll try!) and the stickies are great.

One quick tip which I'm not sure anyone has asked - are you measuring your food? That is the easiest way to eat more calories than you think, especially with very calorie dense foods like peanut butter.
 
Hi hun!

Firstly don't feel bad about your diet! You need to go at a pace you feel comfortable and my diet certainly isn't perfect but I do think Camy is right that sometimes eating breakfast food for breakfast may be best!

Obviously if you keep in calories then you are fine... BUT generally when people have coffee in the morning it fuels them with caffeine. This has some problems but at least for a diet it has no sugar. If you drink Mountain dew or eat sweet pineapply rice, you are getting that buzz as a sugar high! And what comes up, must come down! Then you need to keep that buzz high with more sugar. Same for sweet sauces and things. Obviously starting with changing to the coke zero but you may want to try weaning yourself off soda first thing in the morning! Diet soda is full of artificial sweeteners and all that. But like I said - baby steps to get there. Don't try to do it all at once and then fall off.

The thing is that all the foods you are eating are calorie dense and so it seems like you can't eat a lot - half a pb&j sandwich? That's not enough. And it's not really full of all the nutrients that your body needs. You may want to try making some meals with salads on the side or I love dense comfort foods so I make low fat versions - like lasagne or casseroles. You can always serve your husband a double portion or add fries to the side of his while you have salad. It's just that there are almost no vegetables in your diet at all.

If you are eating breakfast with your husband - maybe you could make him what we in England call an 'all day breakfast' - you have poached eggs, toast, mushrooms etc, he can have fries on the side, beans, sausages, bacon etc or he can have steak and fries and mushrooms. Or you could cook a stir fry for him but use similar raw ingredients for you (veg, mushrooms, chicken or some light protein) and scramble it with some egg.

I don't think you want to lose the closeness of the meal but I don't think eating dinner and a can of coke every morning is the best thing for you in the long run.

Ok . ... starting tom morn .. no pop !! Gonna try to kick the habit starting tom !! Well I guess starting right now but the only time I drink pop is when i first wake up lol.

As for the half a pb not being enough ... I guess I forgot to say in any of my previous posts is that in 06 I had gastric bypass surgery .. so I cant eat a whole lot at at time (sometimes I can eat like a normal persons amount .. other times its very little) ... and since my body has gotten used to eating less .. i think my metabolism has slowed (I could easily eat 500 cals a day .. but it would be very dense foods .. and i would prolly be hungry after a couple hrs of eating)... My highest weight was 256 .. and I lost almost 100 lbs .. got down to 160's .. but them my boyfriend at the time up and joined the service .. and it was kidna stressfull .. then he became my fiance .. and as happy as that made me .. was even more stressfull trying to get a wedding done on a budget by myself before he got back from his deployment .. so I gained around 30 lbs back. And here I am DETERMINED not to let myself get into the 200's again ... and I hadnt stepped on a scale in months .. but a couple weeks ago when I did ... it said 197 I wanted to cry. So I stopped eating all the germany chocolate .. and the cheeseburgers and decided to change.

About the veggies .. I do LOVE green beans .. is that a good veg?
 
Aww just saw what you posted on my thread

I posted this:



Seriously hun, it can be so overwhelming but it doesn't have to be. Any questions, there are loads of amazing people around who know all (not me but I'll try!) and the stickies are great.

One quick tip which I'm not sure anyone has asked - are you measuring your food? That is the easiest way to eat more calories than you think, especially with very calorie dense foods like peanut butter.

I do measure my food... and I can pretty much eye ball it if I dont have a measuring cup around .. I had gastric bypass in 06 and have been measureing things for over 3 yrs now. Thanks for the support .. I feel so alone sometimes ... I really do love this site more and more every day ... And the people on here are amazing, so Thank You ! :) OH and what are the stickies everyone keeps talking about and how do I get to them ... still trying to learn how to navigate the site.
 
Oh, I didn't want to overwhelm you, I am a bit of a food nazi myself, I often eat so healthy people make fun of me!
I understand about wanting to eat together, i second that that is way better than eating cereal by yourself, and yes in the end it is a "numbers game", but this should nto be a "diet" you know, not something you do for a few months and then quit, so you should do things that are sustainable in the long term. I think in the long term eating meat and potatoes for breakfast won't be good for you, because it will make you feel sluggish all day, whilst milk and cereal or a piece of toast with some turkey or ham or low fat cheesey spread will be "fresher"... of course in China people eat rice and fish for breakfast and they are all skinny, so my theory does nto necessarily work for everyone, KWIM?
For me I know that when I was not working and my boyfriend was it made the depression better when I got up early (ish) had proper meals 3 times a day, etc... it is really much better now that I have a purpose again but also now that I eat really healthy again and take care of my own food.

Not knowing how to cook is not a huge problem, I didn't until I was 20 and found out I am a natural at it, I love experimenting (though cooking for 1 is very dull so I end up eating the same over and over again, fast easy dishes). Find yourself some websites or a cooking book if you want to do it "old style" and try it out. In the beginning it may taste odd but as you keep trying it will get better. And because it is your own kitchen you can limit yourself to good ingredients, don't need to use a ton of oil or additives or other crap that is in pre-made food and even restaurant food often.

Now back to the calories: 1000 is very low, it is recommended not to go under 1200 for people of any size! And if you don't feed your body enough 2 things may happen, 1) survival mode (some people believe this some not, I am not convinced but whatever), your body starts saving energy because it feels like it is starving, so you stop losing weigh and can in fact gain. 2) this is my reason why that is not good: 1000 cals are just not enough to feel full and happy, so you tend to "give up on it" and stuff yourself after a week or 2 or a couple of months of this.
You need to calculate your BMR (that is your basic metabolic rate) that will tell you how many calories you burn just existing, breathing, digesting, heartbeat, etc... for me (and I am pretty "skinny" already, that is nearly 1500 calories! If you add the fact that I walk to places and I sit, and I move and I do exercise I burn about 2200 ish calories a day. You being larger will burn more calories just existing, and more calories moving etc... so you need to adapt what you eat to your caloric needs. You are losing weight to be fitter right? To be healthier you need to treat your body right, give it what it needs and pamper it with a lot of water, less caffeine, more fruit and veg and less fat and additives and conservatives.
I know in the beginning it can seem more than one can take to read all of this, but just breath and take it one step at a time, maybe tomorrow you can calculate your BMR (it is easily done on the internet just google it) and maybe the day after that you can try to start planning better meals, or check portion size (we underestimate calories ALL THE TIME! The first time I saw how many calories were in everything I eat I nearly fainted. What I had guesstimated to be like 200 cals often was 650 or more!
Potatoes for instance, a large sized one has like 300 calories! Eat 3 potatoes (and halved and cooked 3 potatoes don't feel like that much!) and you have eaten 1000 cals! A steak should be as big as a deck of cards. All things we don't know when we start our journey.
That is why I suggest you read the stickies, and get some info together because it is hard to make the right choices when we don't have the right information! It took me years to be where I am today, so don't worry, you don't need to know everything in the beginning. But it sure makes life and a lifestyle that helps weigh loss much easier when you do understand the nutritional values of food!

I hope this helped a bit more than my prior post, don't be afraid to ask anything or to ask for help, lots of us are here with open ears and open arms to help people like you, Camy
 
Went to bed around 9 am and so I woke up around 4 pm and started cooking dinner for hubby, so his dinner was my breakfast..but im not going to be doing this anymore .. If its my breakfast i need to be eating breakfast foods or lunch foods .. lol not dinner foods. Had sometime before hubby got home and decided to break out my wii fit board and do some cardio while watching law and order svu (no tv in germany but recorded some stuff to disks while visiting mom in the states last month).. Got in about 20 mins when hubby walked in earlier than I had hoped for so RIGHT after working out I ate ...and boy did that hurt the tummy.

Breakfast - 4 oz baked chicken, spoonfull of green beans, and 3/4 cup of mac n cheese.

After putting hubby to bed I worked out for about another 40 mins on the board. Realized how dehydrated I am .. 30 seconds into it im THIRSTY. After working out ate lunch.

Lunch - 1 Apple, 9 pretzels, and a ham n cheese sandwich.

No dinner yet .. will prolly try to go to bed early to try to get back on a normal sleep schedule. Thanks for everyones comments .. At first I admit I felt like even more of a failure .. but then I realized that I NEED someone to tell me what im doing right and wrong .. cuz I dont know, and im feeling MUCH better and out of my "worhtless" funk ... amazing that a lil workout can do that.. and I KNOW it does make u feel better and yet I needed so much of a push to start.... well the start is over .. and im on my way :)
 
Oh, I didn't want to overwhelm you, I am a bit of a food nazi myself, I often eat so healthy people make fun of me!
I understand about wanting to eat together, i second that that is way better than eating cereal by yourself, and yes in the end it is a "numbers game", but this should nto be a "diet" you know, not something you do for a few months and then quit, so you should do things that are sustainable in the long term. I think in the long term eating meat and potatoes for breakfast won't be good for you, because it will make you feel sluggish all day, whilst milk and cereal or a piece of toast with some turkey or ham or low fat cheesey spread will be "fresher"... of course in China people eat rice and fish for breakfast and they are all skinny, so my theory does nto necessarily work for everyone, KWIM?
For me I know that when I was not working and my boyfriend was it made the depression better when I got up early (ish) had proper meals 3 times a day, etc... it is really much better now that I have a purpose again but also now that I eat really healthy again and take care of my own food.

Not knowing how to cook is not a huge problem, I didn't until I was 20 and found out I am a natural at it, I love experimenting (though cooking for 1 is very dull so I end up eating the same over and over again, fast easy dishes). Find yourself some websites or a cooking book if you want to do it "old style" and try it out. In the beginning it may taste odd but as you keep trying it will get better. And because it is your own kitchen you can limit yourself to good ingredients, don't need to use a ton of oil or additives or other crap that is in pre-made food and even restaurant food often.

Now back to the calories: 1000 is very low, it is recommended not to go under 1200 for people of any size! And if you don't feed your body enough 2 things may happen, 1) survival mode (some people believe this some not, I am not convinced but whatever), your body starts saving energy because it feels like it is starving, so you stop losing weigh and can in fact gain. 2) this is my reason why that is not good: 1000 cals are just not enough to feel full and happy, so you tend to "give up on it" and stuff yourself after a week or 2 or a couple of months of this.
You need to calculate your BMR (that is your basic metabolic rate) that will tell you how many calories you burn just existing, breathing, digesting, heartbeat, etc... for me (and I am pretty "skinny" already, that is nearly 1500 calories! If you add the fact that I walk to places and I sit, and I move and I do exercise I burn about 2200 ish calories a day. You being larger will burn more calories just existing, and more calories moving etc... so you need to adapt what you eat to your caloric needs. You are losing weight to be fitter right? To be healthier you need to treat your body right, give it what it needs and pamper it with a lot of water, less caffeine, more fruit and veg and less fat and additives and conservatives.
I know in the beginning it can seem more than one can take to read all of this, but just breath and take it one step at a time, maybe tomorrow you can calculate your BMR (it is easily done on the internet just google it) and maybe the day after that you can try to start planning better meals, or check portion size (we underestimate calories ALL THE TIME! The first time I saw how many calories were in everything I eat I nearly fainted. What I had guesstimated to be like 200 cals often was 650 or more!
Potatoes for instance, a large sized one has like 300 calories! Eat 3 potatoes (and halved and cooked 3 potatoes don't feel like that much!) and you have eaten 1000 cals! A steak should be as big as a deck of cards. All things we don't know when we start our journey.
That is why I suggest you read the stickies, and get some info together because it is hard to make the right choices when we don't have the right information! It took me years to be where I am today, so don't worry, you don't need to know everything in the beginning. But it sure makes life and a lifestyle that helps weigh loss much easier when you do understand the nutritional values of food!

I hope this helped a bit more than my prior post, don't be afraid to ask anything or to ask for help, lots of us are here with open ears and open arms to help people like you, Camy

Wow, it does feel overwhelming sometimes. But .. I feel better today .. after getting feedback from a few of you girls I feel like I can do this. I think Im going to up my cals to 1200 a day .. I think that might get me to drop faster.

My BMR was 1996 and during my day i dont do a whole lot since im stuck at home. I do laundry, right now im still unpacking boxes from the move and other than my wii fit .. Im pretty much just either doing light cleaning or online. So I dont know if that number would change a whole lot since im not really active. So lets see if I get this right ... if lets say I burn 2000 cals a day and im eating 1200 .. that sounds like it would be an ok caculation -800 cals a day .. thats over a lb and a half a week. That sound good?
 
I'll second getting a cookbook. In fact, if Germany is anything like the US, you could walk into any bookstore and find 20+ cookbooks for dieters full of yummy, easy low-cal and high nutrition receipes.

I have a question though, is there a reason you stay up all night and sleep all day? If there is a reason then just ignore me, but if you followed a more "normal" sleep pattern then your breakfast wouldn't be your husband's dinner anymore.

I feel your pain on the pop though. I gave it up completely two weeks ago. If you drink a lot (more than a can or two a day) I suggest going down to one can a day for a few days before quitting completely. That will help wean your body off the caffine and the "caffine withdrawl" hopefully won't be as bad. Either way, don't plan anything too big the first 24 hours after you stop though, because you are in for a headache at some point. Go to bed if you can, sleep through it.

Good Luck!
 
I'll second getting a cookbook. In fact, if Germany is anything like the US, you could walk into any bookstore and find 20+ cookbooks for dieters full of yummy, easy low-cal and high nutrition receipes.

I have a question though, is there a reason you stay up all night and sleep all day? If there is a reason then just ignore me, but if you followed a more "normal" sleep pattern then your breakfast wouldn't be your husband's dinner anymore.

I feel your pain on the pop though. I gave it up completely two weeks ago. If you drink a lot (more than a can or two a day) I suggest going down to one can a day for a few days before quitting completely. That will help wean your body off the caffine and the "caffine withdrawl" hopefully won't be as bad. Either way, don't plan anything too big the first 24 hours after you stop though, because you are in for a headache at some point. Go to bed if you can, sleep through it.

Good Luck!

I guess I stay up so late cuz my body is still in Indiana time .. I was there for a month up until feb 10th .. .. and around 1 am is when my mom gets home and my aunt gets online and everyone is getting home from work and I sit and talk to them for normally hours .. Im really close with my family and its hard being away (being in germany is my first time ever being away from my family, and we are all really close .. lived in a tiny 1 stop light town close lol)

I plan on changing this tho ... my hubby got a normal houred job that starts in a couple of weeks and I plan on going to bed with him and getting up with him so i can be on a normal sleep pattern, cuz I really think this isnt healthy ...

I normally only drink one pop a day .. and thats when i first wake up .. but had my LAST one today .. hopefully the caffeine headaches wont be too bad :D

Thanks for the post and any advice is welcomed :)
 
I guess I stay up so late cuz my body is still in Indiana time .. I was there for a month up until feb 10th .. .. and around 1 am is when my mom gets home and my aunt gets online and everyone is getting home from work and I sit and talk to them for normally hours .. Im really close with my family and its hard being away (being in germany is my first time ever being away from my family, and we are all really close .. lived in a tiny 1 stop light town close lol)

I plan on changing this tho ... my hubby got a normal houred job that starts in a couple of weeks and I plan on going to bed with him and getting up with him so i can be on a normal sleep pattern, cuz I really think this isnt healthy ...

I normally only drink one pop a day .. and thats when i first wake up .. but had my LAST one today .. hopefully the caffeine headaches wont be too bad :D

Thanks for the post and any advice is welcomed :)

:grouphug: I COMPLETELY understand where you're coming from. My whole family is in Singapore - that's a 16hr time difference from where I'm at - and i'm an only child so moving away from them to live in Vegas was so hard :( Even during the holidays I still get a small bout of depression realizing that I'm not spending Christmas/New Year/etc etc with them.

You are right though, and I'm not giving you this from the scientific aspect whatsoever, but just the way I used to feel when I would stay up nights and sleep days... but I don't think I realized just how much I felt like absolute CRAP doing that until I reverted to a "normal" schedule again. I don't know how your body KNOWS it's not nighttime but sleeping during the day completely threw my circadian rhythm off... I got sick so much easier, my eating was just completely messed up and I was gaining weight left right and center as a result. So it's great to hear you're going to be adjusting to a "normal" schedule again... it'll trickle down and affect so many other aspects of your day and of your weight-loss, being healthy and rested. :)

If you ever need to talk to someone who knows where you're coming from, i'll be here :)
 
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I just wanted to say that I too just really want to eat bad stuff sometimes even though I know it's not good and will go against everything I'm working hard towards but I still get those urges! Sometimes I just want to go to a buffett and just pig right out! I just try not to and succedd most of the time. If my husband suggests a buffett though (and it's an indian buffett) I tend to give in to that one, luckily we don't go there too often, lol.
 
I just wanted to say that I too just really want to eat bad stuff sometimes even though I know it's not good and will go against everything I'm working hard towards but I still get those urges! Sometimes I just want to go to a buffett and just pig right out! I just try not to and succedd most of the time. If my husband suggests a buffett though (and it's an indian buffett) I tend to give in to that one, luckily we don't go there too often, lol.

Thanks for letting me know im not alone, thats always better to hear but specially right now :) THANKS
 
Weight SHOT up to 196.7 ..... that means I have only lose 3 ounces. .. Im not going to ready TOO much into this ..I did a lil work out yesterday so I guess it could be muscle..and im drinking more water so that could be it ...and I only slept around 4 hrs last night .... NOT a good day to start off with no pop .. but so far.. havent had any :)

Breakfast - 2 eggs and 2 peices of low cal bread and a lil bit of butter.

I see a nap in my near future LOL
 
Don't worry too much about the scale at this point! TOM bloating can add pounds - so can a heavy meal. Long term trends are what matters and getting healthy and eating right will yield results.

You have the best attitude and you are doing great!
 
So for lunch we ended up having an either really late lunch or really early dinner .. my hubby made salmon so I had salmon on a bagel with and apple .. would have left the apple out but this was my FIRST time trying salmon that wasnt out of a can and it was SLIMY .. and i have major texture problems LOL .. so i put it on a bagel and it was ok.

NO POP AND NO CHOCOLATE TODAY !!!

Also just ate dinner (11pm) .. was so hungry since we last ate around 4 and that was an apple and a ham sandwich.

Had a MAJOR breakdown with the hubby about EVERYTHING .. so now I feel MUCH better about it all and so does he :) Im actually going to bed at a semi decent time and since he goes in late tom Im getting up when he does and im gonna stay up all day and get my sleep back on track :)

Thanks SOOOOOOOOOO much for everyones support ... im super excited to see if the scale is going to go back down tom :) I know its less about the numbers and more about being healthy but sometimes my mind gets screwed and I feel thats the only affirmation I have that im doing good is if the numbers drop.

Gotta a major headache from crying (breakdown with hubby) so im off to snuggle up and get some GOOD shut eye :)
 
BIG HUGS to you.... glad to hear everything is okay now. Sometimes it helps to clear the air, as long as you manage to hash everything out and don't go to bed still angry about something. Have a good rest and tomorrow will be better and brighter!!!
 
Yeah the scale goes up and down and it really sucks! Mine went up too, but I'm not counting it on my ticker until it's my official weigh-in day! It would change too much if I did it everytime I weighed myself.

I hope you get more sleep tonight! I didn't get much last night either so I'm pretty tired right now. Plus it was a long stressful day at work!
 
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