The road to a healthier me.....

You're welcome.

I always think of Cate as being a bit of a mother hen of the Cohens area... She looks after the others and has long been very active there.

We're pleased that you have come here too. Keep pushing yourself and you will make your dreams come true. Never beat yourself up over a little slip-up though... We are all human - and we can always pick ourselves up again... No-one here would judge you if you ever did slip up...

Margaret
 
Powering through it today and should notch up another 1500 calorie or less day (not sure what to do for dinner). I was really skeptical on maintaining 1500 without the need to top up when unnecessary.

The other big factor has been to eliminate the midnight prowl. You all know what i am talking about :) The recon mission to the fridge/pantry to see what little treasures can be found. I am happy to say that these times are gone.

Waiting to hear back from the people at the Cohens centre and look forward to hearing from those that have tried it out, regardless if it has been successful or not. Will continue to read through a few of the available forums and get a good sense if it is for me. It can be tough for some to publicly state that something they spent money on and tried, failed. Not that i like to use that word "failed" as i see it more as a setback.

Heading overseas in 3 weeks and that will be where the battle lines will be drawn. Out of the comfort zone of focusing on meals for the day to being out and about with the family and having to rely on convenience foods at times. I know i have the will power and part of the reason i am starting so early is in preparation for this and to see how i go. Best part about it is i know my family are there to support where needed.

Rob
 
When it comes to Cohens, I'm utterly useless, since I have zero knowledge on the subject.

But you are doing great! I hope the trip overseas doesn't prove too difficult. :)
 
Seems like you're doing well with the food! That's the part I struggle with a bit more, so good job. :]
 
Question to the people:

I find myself very committed to maintaining a daily calorie intake and trying to assess sizing and amounts of meals taken. How much of a difference does it make if some of the foods are not as good as some. I am not talking about ploughing down into fish and chips from the local, but more like toasted cheese sandwiches or some scrambled eggs...that sort of thing.

I keep thinking that this is not the best practice even though i can usually keep under the total allowed calories per day.

Any views or advice would be most appreciated.

Rob
 
well sad to say toasted cheese sandwiches are not that great to have moderately because it has a lot of carbs and fat. you can have a turkey sandwich on wheat bread though :D
 
If the carbohydrates are the problem, why not simply eat the cheese on the wheat bread?
The cheese will provide a significant amount of carbs. Still, I fail to see how wheat bread is better than normal bread. It may be better in some areas, but if we are talking about calories -And I believe we are- will it make that much of a difference?

Maybe it's just me, but, when it comes to calories, a processed carbohydrate is not much better than another processed carbohydrate.

About the fat I could agree, but simply saying "avoid cheese because it contains fat" is inaccurate. Context is important when we start to discuss what we should and shouldn't do. If person X has been eating only cheese for the last 3 days, then trying to lower fat intake could be wise. But if the same person has been avoiding all fats because he was told: "fat is bad", he is also risking his health. Our body needs some fat from the ones considered "good" (Mono-unsaturated and Polyunsaturated), and it also needs some saturated fat. Yes, saturated fat can be bad in excess, that doesn't mean you should avoid it completely. The one I would avoid is trans fat, since is an artificial fat, created on a chemical process. (I think trans fat can be found in nature too, but I don't have knowledge on this subject so I wont discuss it. Still, everything I have read points out that trans fat has several detrimental effects)

I call for moderation. You shouldn't eat bad food all the time, but you certainly don't need to eat perfectly.
If you know how much calories those foods have, I don't see problems on eating them with moderation. Now, If you want to try the "healthier" choice, and are comfortable with it, sure, go for it!
 
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Appreciate the time on the phone typing all this up :)

I suppose my thought process is that if i am maintaining a set number of calories, should i also be monitoring what foods i am eating to total those calories. I am not saying that i will eat 1500 calories of junk in one sitting and not eat for the rest of the day but was wondering what difference it makes when eating either/or.

Hope this makes sense as it is another area i am not educated enough in....but getting better ;)

Rob
 
Balance is the key here, but let's elaborate;

Here comes to play what is known as "Empty calories".
Empty calories are the ones you obtain from certain foods with no (or very little) nutritional value; sugars, soda, alcohol, you know, the "good" stuff.

You know you shouldn't eat those, but trying to ban them all from your diet can be hard, and ultimately end up in failure. Have a diet based on those and you will end up with several nutritional deficiencies.

What I'm trying to say here is: If you can live without those, go ahead, but don't force yourself to do it if you aren't comfortable with it.

I believe you shouldn't have problems, and still be able to enjoy those (In moderation) if you get the appropriate nutrition.

Note: I was planning on a much longer and elaborated response, but I already had to delete what I wrote twice since I can't decide. :blush5:
 
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Was an interesting day yesterday with temptation knocking at the door.

Ended up at Subway after kids sporting activities and was presented with quite the dilemma. In the past it would have been the meatball sub or the mass of cheese melted into 3 different meats with all the toppings. I am happy with the fact that i went straight for the 6grams or less options and ordered from there. I know not the best of foods but probably the best outcome considering the situation.

What made it a little more interesting was that we had the options of Hungry Jacks (Burger King) or MacDonalds. The first thing that i though of was that Subway has some "healthier" options. I mean, that guy lost all that weight just eating Subway didnt he? :D

My next project is to focus on putting meal plans together and preparing them the night before so as not to go through the morning ritual of running late for work and taking a number for a shower in the morning. Not sure about how they will go for freshness but i will do the best i can. I am wanting to trial, at least for a couple weeks, a 1200 calorie regime to see how that pans out. I think if i can commit to eating at certain periods of the day (not missing lunch due to being busy) i feel i can make it work.

Will keep you all, and myself, posted of how it goes.

Rob
 
Well done for avoiding the McDonalds! I love the breakfast stuff there & it's a good job I don't live too near one!! Subway is a much better choice! Well done! I think 1200 is too low for a man your height but obviously it's your choice!
 
Yes it was my first temptation of a fast food chain and was pretty proud with it overall.

I have now lost 8.5kg in the last month and would like to thank everyone that has read and commented during this time. Just the fact of knowing that i need to keep this diary up has made me work harder to keep the calories down.

For all those that are starting out know that i have lost this weight with little to no exercise whatsoever. I am not saying that this is the ideal program but just want to let those know that it really has sooooo much to do with what you are eating and especially, how much of it you are eating.

Another little feather to my bow is my portion size. In the past i used to lay on copious amounts, especially for dinner, and would always finish it. Now I am making sure that i am only putting minimal portions and taking my time to eat it.

Thanks again for reading and will continue to update with progress. Hope you get something out of it.

Rob
 
RobSanders said:
I have now lost 8.5kg. (...) with little to no exercise whatsoever
Click to expand...



I'm sorry, I couldn't resist... :biggrinjester: :biggrinjester:

I'm glad that you lost 8.5 Kg and that your diary has helped you to do that. :)

I can relate to the portion size part. When I started weighing my food, I realized I used to eat 3 or 4 times of what a "serving" looks like.

I hope you continue to lose weight. Have a nice day and take care of yourself! :grouphug:
 
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Very funny, nice one :D

Not a lot has happened but would like to discuss some ideas for those that find it tough over the weekends. I find when i am working during the week i can almost be quite regimental with the food regime and have no problems putting away a couple litres of water too. Come the weekend, temptation raises it head for another shot at me.

Thought process here was to prepare my meals in advance and chip away at them as i go. Makes it a little harder when i am out most of Saturday with kids sports but feel i need to focus on something that will work.

Also had the daughters birthday last night and instead of usually gorging myself with birthday treats, was really proud of holding back and eating in moderation. Left the lollies for the kids and made sure not to 1/4 of the birthday cake over the course of the night or during a midnight run.

The midnight run, or what i have grown to call it, is now a distant memory. I would imagine that this was a major factor for my weight balance with the combination of eating late at night, eating some crappy snack or sandwich and then doing on most nights. This had been another big achievement and can only tell those in the same position was that it was a case of going COLD TURKEY.

Have been reading quite a few other diaries and apologise for not making comment as i dont feel i have anything constructive to add. There are some great people on this forum and i can only say to listen to their wise words of wisdom.

Until next time.

Rob
 
OK, changed my daily calorie goal to 1500 for the last couple of days, drank a truckload of water and dropped 1.5kg over 4 days. Not sure why the quick weight loss but think i will stick to maintain 1400-1500 calories as i go along.

Sadly had not introduced the physical activity i said i would but have managed to walk away from a few of the normal temptations i would have given into in the past. I would like to think that this is me conditioning myself so when i do drop the weight i am working on, i wont find myself falling back to the dark side.

The one thing i hang out for is fish and chips. Problem is when i would get fish and chips in the past, i could usually put away a couple dim sims, couple potato cakes, hamburger in batter and a fair amount of chips. Almost to the stage where i would feel uncomfortable. Dont want to make the kids suffer for my gluttony but also happy not to have them eating it as frequent as we used to (generally once a week). Thankfully my kids are ultra active and dont have the binges like i do.

2 more weeks before we head off to holiday in Orlando. As well as a heap of things we have planned it will be a massive test considering the amount of convenient food on offer in the US. Might look at treating myself a couple times but also make sure to keep on top of it at the same time. I imagine i should also be able to knock over a lot of miles whilst wandering through Disney for a few days as well.

Still not sure if the foods i am entering in MyFitnessPal have their correct calorie levels on but it seems to be "close enough" to get through. Does anyone else use this and how do you make sure you are entering the correct ones?

Until next time.

Rob
 
Pretty pumped today.

Finally pulled my finger out and visited the Doctor. I would rate it as a B+ with weight down, blood pressure down, sugar levels controlled and all the little letters with red numbers on the last test disappearing all but one. Booked in for another months time to see if i can get them all in the black :)

Continuing with the 1500 cal plan seems to be working well and only having a couple moments where i have been hungry. Have started looking at low cal snacks i can throw in to get me through those times.

Have been googling a few sites but would love to hear some recommendations from those that have tried a few.
 
Very good job, Rob. :)

I haven't had time to read in detail the last updates, but I will, eventually...
:biggrinjester:

As for sites, I personally use CalorieKing, since it doesn't require registration and it doesn't have a stupid interface...
You can chose the amount of food, or if you weigh it, you can enter the grams, for more accuracy.

You are doing great. Have a nice day and take care of yourself. :)
 
Hello all,

Back to world of living and cold Melbourne weather.

Florida was an amazing place and felt like i could have easily stayed a bit longer (or indefinitely :) ).

Wasn't the best with meals but could have been a lot worse for a net gain of 4.5kg. If it wasn't for all the walking around at the theme parks i think it would have been a lot worse. Managed to eat at a few healthier options while on the road but the obligatory fast foods managed to creep in.

Have started back into the old regime with a couple of goals i have set in place to keep me focused.

GOAL #1 ----- 115kg by November 20

This is my schools 25th reunion and i know it will be a bit of a stretch to hit it.

GOAL #2 ----- 100kg

This goal will be when we look at another holiday with the family and will give me something to plan along the way.

GOAL #3 ----- 85kg

This is the ultimate goal weight which has been decided that we will consider a move. For years i have been at the missus to get out of cold, dreary old Melbourne and move to somewhere warmer with the option of an overseas move. There are many parameters that go along with this one but is definitely something i want to work towards.

Well, that's the update and will continue to talk about certain obstacles along the way.

Thanks for reading.
Rob
 
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