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  • Noodle797
    Noodle797 Posts: 366 Member
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    Karen: I get so hungry when I drop below 2000 & all I think about is food. I'm hoping by the time I get to that point my stomach will have shrunk a bit & I won't feel so hungry all the time. I just don't understand how people can live on 1200 calories a day. I guess if you're used to it, it's not a big deal, but I did that in High School & lasted a mere week before saying forget it. I'd rather be a little chubby than starving all the time. Of course now I'm way more than chubby, but I still hate being hungry. I make all of my meals & snacks on the weekend & so far this time around it hasn't been too bad, but my nutritionist has me at about 2100 calories. I'm trying to be creative so that I get the most bang for my buck which amounts to lean proteins, lots of veggies and very measured portions of whole grains, along with a few fruits each day, but as it is sometimes I look at my plate & worry I'll be hungry, I don't know what I'll do when I'm only supposed to eat 1800 or 1500 a day. :\

    Thanks to everyone for the encouragement about work. I can feel how stressed out I am at the moment. They're supposed to be hiring 2 new people, but we shall see. It's been really rough on everyone, so I'm trying to carry my fair share of the load.

    Have a great Monday everyone!
  • mysticlizard
    mysticlizard Posts: 896 Member
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    I hope this will give everyone a smile. So I watched videos on yoga ball workouts. These graceful women making it look fun and easy. I chose what I thought would be the easiest. How can I describe it, I was a flailing whale on a beach ball. My poor girls were choking so they wouldn't laugh. I was laughing so hard I had tears in my eyes. I ended up with carpet burns on my elbows. I can only get better at it :)
  • Noodle797
    Noodle797 Posts: 366 Member
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    I hope this will give everyone a smile. So I watched videos on yoga ball workouts. These graceful women making it look fun and easy. I chose what I thought would be the easiest. How can I describe it, I was a flailing whale on a beach ball. My poor girls were choking so they wouldn't laugh. I was laughing so hard I had tears in my eyes. I ended up with carpet burns on my elbows. I can only get better at it :)

    OMG! Hilarious!
  • Femmigirlz
    Femmigirlz Posts: 231 Member
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    Noodle, how much do you weigh? If you don't mind me asking? You can private message me if you like. According to this site I should be eating 2000 to lose 1 pound a week. I gained two weeks in a row.

    According to a few other sites I should eat 1800 calories. My Nutritionist (I no longer have her) wanted me to eat 1300-1500 calories. I told her she was nuts! Seriously?

    I'm so hungry today trying to stick to 1800 that I went over to 2100.

    I was just wondering if you have more weight to lose as why possibly your Nutritionist put you on higher calories.

    I feel you Noodle, so hungry all the time. Arghhh. lol
  • Femmigirlz
    Femmigirlz Posts: 231 Member
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    Okay I need help please. I bough the Costco 85% lean hamburger. The weight before cooking and after cooking is about a 2 ounce difference. How do I weigh it? Do I count it before it's cooked or after it's cooked? There are so many differing opinions online and on here that I am very confused.

    Also with lettuce or baby kale. If you measured 8 ounces on the scale that would be a whole lot of lettuce or baby kale, but if you measure it in a 1 cup measuring cup it's not that much, which is accurate?

    Sincerely confused and frustrated. :) HELP!!!!!
  • mysticlizard
    mysticlizard Posts: 896 Member
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    Hey Karen, There are a lot of opinions about the right way to weigh. Just decide how you are going to do it and do it that way consistently. Personally I weigh my meat before cooking and vegies by the gram or oz. loose. ;)
  • MdwstQT
    MdwstQT Posts: 230 Member
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    Omg that's so funny Mystic. It's refreshing when we can laugh at our own shenanigans :) Hang in there, you'll get it.

    I hope everyone is doing well. Snow had finally hit VA. Working from home tomorrow.

    Today was weigh-in. I was worried because I was not on any kind of healthy eating this week. Even though stress got the best of me this week, I stayed right where I was last week.

    Back on track!
  • FindingCindy721
    FindingCindy721 Posts: 834 Member
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    Sorry I didn't get to post yesterday...internet problems from the storm. I will catch up tomorrow. We are on our way to get on the bus to New York!
    Have a FAB_U_LOSS day my friends!!!
  • mysticlizard
    mysticlizard Posts: 896 Member
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    I hope you have a wonderful time Cindy!
  • aaliceinw
    aaliceinw Posts: 747 Member
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    Enjoy Cindy and be safe from the storms.
    Please will you and Nekrebel to the community when you come back. She needs some motivating friends and ideas to keep on track.
  • barlovo
    barlovo Posts: 151 Member
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    Hi everyone, thinking of you all on the U.S. east coast and hoping you are safe and warm.

    Noodle and Karen, just wanted to "weigh" in on the calories-per-day discussion. When I started trying to lose weight I was probably eating 2500-2700 calories a day, and I couldn't believe how little food it was. I wondered, how do people eat like this?? Over time as I lost weight I needed to keep cutting back and every time I go through a very rough 2-4 week adjustment period. Now I am at 1690 and that is hard for me. It's easy to go over but I keep trying to recommit.

    One of the problems for me is that I had a very distorted idea of what an appropriate portion of food was. My wife, who has also lost a lot of weight, and I talk about how we used to cook up a pound of pasta, top it with sauce and about half a pound of cheese, and split it between us for dinner. Then we'd have dessert. We would look at the pasta package label that said "8 servings" and we couldn't imagine who on earth would ever be satisfied with such a small amount. Today, however, it's different. We cook up half a box and now we have leftovers.

    I never thought that my attitudes about food could change so much. It has been a gradual and difficult process and I am still on the journey.

    I was always fat as a child and my family forced me to diet. My parents restricted my food and I was often hungry and hated my body. I rebelled as a young adult by deciding I would love my body as it is and eat whatever the hell I wanted to. That worked for a while until I got older and my heavy weight put pressure on my joints, and I started developing heart problems and pre-diabetes. Now I still love my body as it is, but I also see myself as a caretaker for that body and try to make better decisions.

    One of the nutritionists I saw early in my weight-loss process told me that my metabolism had been damaged by the forced diets in my childhood. She also said that being hungry as a child probably confused my hunger system, so that my body tells my brain to eat sometimes when it is not hungry. She told me that if I ate healthily and regularly, without depriving, over time my body would learn. It's not 100% there, but it's much better.

    Some practical tips that helped me:

    1) buy smaller plates and bowls. A lot of appetite is visual.

    2) focus on high protein, high fiber foods. I'm vegetarian so I focus on beans, tofu, and low-fat dairy. I eat mostly whole grains and lots and lots of vegetables.

    3) Eat in courses, and start each meal with a low-calorie high-bulk starter, like soup or salad.

    4) Someone once told me, if you're really hungry, go get a raw carrot. If you don't want to eat the carrot, you're not really hungry. That helped me figure out the difference between cravings and hunger. I have also eaten a lot of raw carrots as a result, and they are filling!

    5) pay attention to whether there are foods that when you eat them, instead of feeling less hungry, you feel more hungry. I call these my "trigger" foods. I've learned that sugary foods and processed carbs stimulate my appetite. Also salted nuts. I can't eat enough of them (but unsalted nuts, very satisfying). Other people have told me that cheese is one of their triggers. I have learned to stay away from my trigger foods. When you see me posting about cravings or the munchies, it's usually because I ate some white bread or pasta.

    Sorry, this turned into a very long post. Talking about weight loss brings up a lot of feelings for me!

    Hang in there everyone. No one who hasn't been through this knows what it is like, and how hard it is. It's so great to be on the path with each of you.

  • mysticlizard
    mysticlizard Posts: 896 Member
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    Barlovo - Thank you for the information. We got a new set of smaller dishes and it has made a difference. Eating with chopsticks has also helped me. We have been eating our salad with our supper, I like the idea of eating in courses. I am going to try the unsalted nuts, evenings are hard for me.
  • aaliceinw
    aaliceinw Posts: 747 Member
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    This is really useful information Barlovo. Thanks so much for taking the time to post it. I will be revisiting it from time to time.

    Other than that - where is every body? I hope you are all not snowed under? ;)
  • mysticlizard
    mysticlizard Posts: 896 Member
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    Alice - We are not snowed under, we are frozen solid. It is -11 with a wind chill of -17 :\
  • aaliceinw
    aaliceinw Posts: 747 Member
    edited February 2015
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    Oh that's not cool Liz
  • aaliceinw
    aaliceinw Posts: 747 Member
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  • FindingCindy721
    FindingCindy721 Posts: 834 Member
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    Hi my L.O.S.T. friends! I have missed you the past couple days! Our trip was CRAZY, DISORGANIZED and STRESSFUL!!! We were stuck in a subway tunnel for an hour and 45 min and for a bunch of country kids who were already overwhelmed being in a big city...well it was less than fun! We did have a good time at the dog show but most of the trip was RUSHED and chaotic! Her teacher did NOT plan well and there were several things NOT accounted for that should have been. We left the school at 5:30AM and the first time we were able to get to food was 3:15PM... NOT good for a bunch of teen agers. I had a girl in my group that was diabetic so it was especially not good for her. She had a couple small snacks with her but not OK for her to go that long without real food.
    I had made Kyli and I breakfast burritos before we left the house and wrapped them in foil to eat on our way, one of the kids in my group was complaining of being STARVING on the bus so I gave her my food...even though I had already logged it...she took about 3 bites and threw the rest away, saying she doesn't eat much! I was NOT HAPPY! I never got anything to eat until almost 4 O'clock! Anyway...my daughter decided she definitely doesn't want to live in a city...she got an appreciation for the fact that we have worked hard to keep her in our "boring little town" as she has so often referred to it LOL!
    When you are at the show...you don't get the narration that you do on TV...so we actually discovered we enjoyed it on TV much better LOL!

    Aaliceinw~ I sent an invitation to your friend to join us. And I am DEFINITELY all snowed under lol...we have almost 7 feet in our yard!

    Barlovo~ Thanks for sharing your tips! (And your lovely face!!)

    Liz~ We felt like it was a heat wave for us in NYC...it was 27 degrees!! And there was no more than 6" of snow anywhere we went!

    I will continue to catch up over the next day or so! I was so excited to have 2 days off from work after my 45 day stretch but I'm more exhausted today than I was before the trip! LOL

    Have a FAB_U_LOSS day my friends!!! <3

  • mysticlizard
    mysticlizard Posts: 896 Member
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    Cindy - You would think a teacher would know that teenagers need to be fed. What a neat experience though. Next year you can watch it on TV with your feet up and say yep, I've been there. I hope you get a little time to rest and recover.

    Karen - I hope your day goes well and you get some answers.

    Alice and those of you in CA - It is -10 here this morning with no wind. We are suppose to warm up on Saturday. I can't wait. I could use a little of your sunshine.

    I am sending out happy thoughts to everyone, have a great day! :)
  • aaliceinw
    aaliceinw Posts: 747 Member
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    Technical problems again. I cant post properly.
  • FindingCindy721
    FindingCindy721 Posts: 834 Member
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    Well today was weigh in day and I gained a pound. I completely own it...it was a bad week...not much prepping and I had 3 days that I was so far under my calorie goals that it wouldn't let me close out the diary. The trip to NYC I only ate one burger all day! However, I have noticed my clothes are getting much looser...my pants actually fell almost off coming off the bus on the trip and I do NOT need to unbutton them when I go to the bathroom LOL! But on a better note...hubby and I went healthy shopping today and prepped some food...I am making a nice veggie soup tomorrow with all the yummy fresh veggies I bought today and I am joining a Biggest Loser Group here on MFP...I am on team teal and am PUMPED!!!!

    Liz~ I was rolling laughing picturing you on your exercise ball! I have one and I used to be like that too!

    aaliceinw~ Sorry you are having trouble posting! I was having technical difficulties earlier in the week, it was because of a storm. Regardless of the reason why, I know the frustration...hang in there my friend!

    MdwstQT~ Glad you are feeling better and getting back on track! we've got this m friend!!!

    Noodle~ I hope hings settle down for you soon! My work life has just started settling down! My work partner is back from his training and I will finally get a day off this weekend.

    Karen~ I get just as confused as you when it comes to weighing foods. I wish I had some answers for you! I was actually thinking about googling some questions about it and seeing what is suggested!

    To everyone else...Hi! We miss you!!! Have a FAB_U_LOSS day my friends!!!