Hi Everyone!

jericadash

jericadash

New member
Hi everyone! My name is Jerica, I'm 34 and new here. I currently weight 242 pounds and would like to drop a few not only to look better but I would also like to feel better. I'm pretty tired and sluggish all the time now and I can't stand it! I love to cook and bake and my prize possesions are my cook books. I come from a southern family that fries everything or just adds bacon/fatback to whatever isn't getting fried. :piggy:

Almost all of my family members are super skinny and healthy. They kind of took after my mom's side of the family (healthy) and I veered off towards my dad's side (not healthy). I always wanted to be a chef and love buttery, creamy foods. Although lately I haven't been feeling that good so I'm pretty sure my body is saying, hey lady maybe we should slow it down a little!

I'm hoping by reading and posting in this forum it will help keep me on track. It's hard when you don't really have a lot of support. I'm hoping to get my energy back and to get rid of this pesky backache. Thanks for listening!
 
Hi and welcome to the forum. 11 years ago I weighed 242. I lost 100 lbs and felt so much better. I gained back some of the weight over the years and last year at 210 started eating healthy and losing the weight again. As of today I'm down to 158lbs. It can be done and you'll feel so much better.
I also love to cook and make sweets. Now I just make them for special times.
Good luck!
 
Hi, and welcome :)

I've actually started to learn to enjoy cooking while calorie counting (I set a target for myself, if you're interested, by using this calculator: BMR Calculator ). I find my inspiration by looking online for recipes and try to convert them into low calorie recipes (or lower- sometimes I find low calorie recipes and change them). I use this website to analyse the nutritional value of meals: Calorie Count :: New Recipe It may be worthwhile for you to do as well so you can still incorporate your family's style of cooking into your diet once in awhile, but being aware of how much it "costs" you in terms of your calorie allowance (whether you choose to calorie count or not, the science of weight loss is apparently 'less calories in than out', so it's worthwhile having an awareness of those numbers). Have you tried lower fat/ calorie substitutions? I don't like a lot of buttery/ creamy/ cheesy cooking, but one of the few exceptions is bacon carbonara, and I have a substitution recipe which calls for light evaporated milk, beef stock, and a few tablespoons of parmesan cheese (to serve 6, so a little goes a long way) instead of the original creamy/ cheesy sauce.

Have a browse around the food diaries for ideas and inspiration (I link to/ list the recipes I use in mine), and feel free to set up your own.
 
Thanks everyone! I love being able to talk and get help and ideas from others who are trying to lose weight also. I'm going to check out the food diaries and get an idea how others are eating and cooking. I've gotten my family so spoiled by making a big meal everynight with either biscuits or cornbread and desert that trying to break that is going to be hard. I have been trying to cut back on the sugar and butter. I've started making sugar free jello/pudding or having fresh berries with angel food cake and that's been working out pretty well. Does anyone know of a good sugar substitute? One thing that is hard for my husband and kids is the sweet tea. I've heard Splenda isn't that great for you. My sister told me about agave syrup and stevia but I've never had either one. Any thoughts on the subject would be greatly appreciated!
 
Hello and welcome to the forum!!! I don't have any issues with Splenda. I don't know that its great in big quanitites, but if used sparingly, I dont' see the harm.
 
Hi Jerica, welcome! I started at the same weight as well, and know that you CAN lose it.... even if you love butter :). I am from the south too and love my deep fryer. For me, my diet change was about smaller portions and eating healthy at least 90-95% of the time. I still use butter when I cook... I just use less. The flavor is still there, but less calories. You just have to find the balance that works for you!
 
Hello dwwise and emerald. Thanks for the encouragement! I haven't weighed myself in about two weeks but I stepped on the scale this morning and was down to 239! I think a major factor in that is I quit drinking soda, tea and coffee. Basically I've just been drinking water. I even felt good enough to go to the gym this morning. I love it!
 
Welcome to the forum. Jerica and Jessica. This is a great forum and the place to be if you need support, information or ideas on how to lose weight.
 
jericadash said:
Hi everyone! My name is Jerica, I'm 34 and new here. I currently weight 242 pounds and would like to drop a few not only to look better but I would also like to feel better. I'm pretty tired and sluggish all the time now and I can't stand it! I love to cook and bake and my prize possesions are my cook books. I come from a southern family that fries everything or just adds bacon/fatback to whatever isn't getting fried. :piggy:

Almost all of my family members are super skinny and healthy. They kind of took after my mom's side of the family (healthy) and I veered off towards my dad's side (not healthy). I always wanted to be a chef and love buttery, creamy foods. Although lately I haven't been feeling that good so I'm pretty sure my body is saying, hey lady maybe we should slow it down a little!

I'm hoping by reading and posting in this forum it will help keep me on track. It's hard when you don't really have a lot of support. I'm hoping to get my energy back and to get rid of this pesky backache. Thanks for listening!
Click to expand...

First of all, welcome to the forum. By reading through the sticky posts, journals and other threads on this forum, you'll definitely find a lot of good advice, support and motivation.

Reading your post made me feel as if I should say something. That something? A little piece of advice. That advice?

Use your ambition to be a chef to your advantage. Instead of cooking all of those fatty, buttery and creamy foods, challenge yourself a little bit and use your cheffy ambition to create good tasting, healthy meals. Play around in the kitchen and figure how to combine ingredients such as fruits, vegetables, grains, leafy greens, lean protein (etc) into delicious but HEALTHY meals. Not only will you better yourself in the kitchen and develop a new sense of culinary creativity (which may ignite a fire to get you working at becoming a chef), but you'll also be eating healthy in the process, which will help you achieve your goal of losing weight.

Two birds, one stone.

Anyway, hope everything goes well with your weight loss. Good luck!!!
 
Howdy from the Norther-Southerner....live up north but dad's family is from Kentucky...his home town here is still refered to "Lil'Tucky" cause better part of the city population comes from them that thar hills in the south. So I was raised with that southern stick-to-the-ribs food....good stuff....bad especially in big portions.

Good luck in your loss though, and welcome. I know the changing of drinks to h2o has been a big help for myself.
 
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