Hello. Here I am.

Kitty70f9

My name is Heather, and I have two girls (9 and 2) and a wonderful husband (he could join this group, too, but is stubborn). I am 31 and have an office job. I love gardening, arts and crafts (especially crochet and painting), cooking and baking, and I love running...or at least the idea of it.

My highest weight was 237, and even though I didn't feel like I belonged in the morbidly obese category, that is where my BMI puts me. I am a shorty, lol. I am currently around 218-220 (haven't weighed in a while, my scale is back at my old house and I am not done moving stuff). My goal weight is 125-130, and my fitness goal is to run a Spartan race. I want to be able to run a few miles at a time, to do pull ups, and monkey bars!!

My weaknesses are donuts, dr pepper, burritos, chocolate (especially cadbury eggs), cakes, and simple carbs. I have PCOS, which makes this journey that much harder for me. But some day, I will win.

julieworley376

Hi Kitty good to meet you. I think the important thing is to take those things you love and try to find ways to work them in. You really do have to change your lifestyle permanently, which means not bingeing on all the stuff you love and dieting again tomorrow while working exercise into the picture.

Soo.. donuts I have not come up with a low cal alternative for, if you can limit the donuts to one great favorite once a week to begin with and enjoy every bite of it without guilt. Dr. Pepper, could you possibly stand the diet kind? Burritos, have you tried making your own? You could use fat free refried beans, fat free cheese, fat free sour cream etc. Cake, how about 3oz of angel food cake with a teaspoon of your favorite jelly or jam. On the carbs switch to wholegrain carbs and baked potatoes with light spread or even better, salsa and fat free or light sour cream.

Chocolate.. ehhh.. I still haven't got over that one, but try sugar free chocolate puddings, chocolate cereal to nibble on and when you really want an egg, again, limit that. But if you do go over refuse to feel the guilt.. and reach for an apple!

Kitty70f9

I can go more than a few weeks without the donuts, honestly. My main problem with them is binging on them when I do eat them! And with Dr Pepper, I find that the diet actually is worse for me. I just need to try to limit myself to 1 a day, at most. And I love making my own burritos! I think my issue with those is that the drive thru is so fast and easy when I am running ragged.

I try to do the whole grain carbs as much as I can, but there are just some days when I need to eat something bad. And that starts me of on a binge, usually a very loooong binge, sadly!

Perhaps that last suggestion will be the key...reaching for an apple (or some other healthy food) when I realize I am slipping, instead of just saying "forget it" and going crazy!

julieworley376

Great idea! How about having some things ready made up to snack on? There is another thread here with ideas on for low cal snacks.

PatrickB_87

Oh Dr. Pepper..... how he taunts me. Soda, especially Dr. Pepper has been a big temptation issue for me.

When I started this I though it would be a lot of other things (anything sweet, salty crunchy, fatty) and there are, but soda I have found is just one thing I can't have in the house. Just last week someone bout a 24 pack and brought it home, and it has been hell avoiding it. It's just to easy to give in and then suddenly 200cal are gone from the day.

Diet is an option but i don't want to be abusing it simply because it's diet. I would drink too much like I use to. Besides if it has to have diet directly printed on it you know you probably shouldn't be consuming much of it in the first place.

If it's a temptation for you then i say cut it out, it makes the momentary weaknesses and desires pass easily when their is nothing you can do. I will allow myself to have one when i really want it (i'm not an alcohol drinker so i consider is like having the occasional drink) but i have to go and buy one and then i make sure to only go to a gas station where i can buy a single bottle. Another thing I have considered doing to make sure i treat soda as only an occasional treat is to go to BevMo and try one of the unusual sodas, that way its a little different and more special (and a longer drive).

At home I just make sure to drink lots of water. I have found that adding crushed ice (from a blender) into a glass of water can give you a mouth feel very similar to the carbonation of soda. I have found that to help when i have a craving. I also keep a water bottle with me all the time so I have something to drink. Hard to think about soda when your full of water.

I know the feeling of slipping and just say forget it, i've done it with donuts (you never just have one) and i have a particularly shameful story for a week and a half ago involving a double bacon cheeseburger.

The sugar free chocolate pudding can be a nice alternative for chocolate, much lower in calories and makes you feel full. But then again if its to hard then it might be best to simply keep it away.

I've found with cutting things out that although i desire and crave them, i don't miss them as much as i thought. When i have given in i'm always reminded at the end that it wasn't as satisfying as i thought it would be, and that i would have been just as happy making a better decision.

Kitty70f9

Always a battle, isn't it? Glad to find another DP junkie who knows my pain!