*** Supportive Friends -- Looking to Release 50+ Pounds ***

@ron2e - I had to read your reply to me twice because the first time I read it, I thought you thought I was talking about marijuana. Haha! I thought, "Oh no! They are all going to think I'm a druggie now!" Alas, I slowed down the second time through and my brain kicked in. I can understand your angst over buying tobacco for your best friend and obviously someone you want to see healthy. Would it turn into an argument if you told him, "I don't want to contribute to your demise!"

When I read "Szechuan prawns" I instantly got hungry! I know Gordon Ramsey and his LOVE of swearing. I think, if I were ever in his kitchen and he started yelling at me, I would really have to fight the urge to punch him in the throat, haha!! 100% agree with you on healthy recipe's being hard to find. Especially recipe's that taste good. I have friends give me healthy recipe's to try and I can tell sometimes when something is going to be gross and it's disheartening. We shouldn't have to give up taste!

My pic was taken on my son's 3rd bday! We took him out to eat for breakfast and he loved his pancakes. I had to take away his plate because I was afraid he was going to vomit if he ate any more.

@needtobefitt - Hi! Have you just started on MFP? What was your motivation to start getting healthy?

I can tell you right now, being skinny isn't going to make you feel any different if you are going through emotional stuff. However, getting healthy does have a positive impact on self image and lifts your mood so if that is what you're going for, then you will feel great!

My problem has never really been eating bad food, it's always been the portion and I too have an issue with curbing my snacking. I used to snack a lot at night and when I started logging what I ate on MFP I was a little horrified and disgusted at seeing the amount of calories and sodium I was eating after dinner time. My goal weight is about 160 lbs as well, but like you wrote, that number isn't exact. May I ask how tall you are? I'm 5'7" and I've read that someone my height could be anywhere from 125lbs to I think 160-170 lbs. 125 lbs seems insane to me and I read that Angelina Jolie is 5'7" and 125lbs but she looks too skinny for me. I'm not looking to be that slender... or that hungry, but in high school I was 160 lbs and had a decent amount of muscle and I looked pretty good.




I am making chicken and vegetable coconut curry with rice tonight. I added the recipe to MFP; http://www.mylifeasamrs.com/2012/05/chicken-and-vegetable-thai-coconut-curry.html, and am stoked to find out it's only 220 calories per serving! I did not add the rice calories though, but I will be eating maybe a cup of white rice with it. I am sure if I substituted in light coconut milk it would be less calories... but I like that strong coconut taste. I edited the recipe to only 2 Weight Watchers chicken breasts, deleted a green pepper bc when I made this before it just seemed like too much peppers in there and substituted the frozen peas with one cup of mixed organic vegetables with edamame instead of peas... since it's difficult for me to eat them. Oh, and I added garlic. I LOVE garlic.

I just need to make a post in this thread as I so belong with this group. I am a big guy that is currently sitting at 364 and I have at least 100lbs to go. I am to busy right now to get involved with this thread and I will be away all next week but I want to find this thread easily as there seems to be a lot of like minded people in here.

See you all in about a week.

@britzy3199 - I understand your struggles. I am in school full time with a 3 year old running around. May I suggest you looking into freezer cooking? Saves a lot of time and money. As for exercise, girl, you just gotta make time. Wake up early and go for a walk or anything you can do like an exercise video or youtube has a lot of cardio that you could do if you don't want to leave home. It will suck at first but soon you'll be looking forward to having that little bit of time to yourself to get healthy!

@ron2e - I also wanted to say I am over the moon and green with jealousy you get to go Cyprus. Pinks shorts and all, I'm SO jelly!

Not so glamorous as it sounds, I am attending an IT conference so it will be death by Powerpoint for four days and I'll see nothing of the real Cyprus. I fly back Friday night and have to sleep over at Heathrow airport to catch an early flight out to Slovakia on Saturday morning as I have a project going live.

Yes, I see what you mean about the weed and marijuana, we tend to sometimes refer to tobacco in the UK as the 'weed'. Regarding my friend, yes I could say that to him and he wouldn't be offended, but I'm sort of torn, I know he relies on me getting it for him and as I say he's such a good friend I'd do anything for. It's really difficult.

I know I'm not female, but as far as height and weight goes, the fittest and healthiest I have ever been was about (mumble) years ago in the air force when I weighed 135 lbs and was super fit (it was sort of forced upon us) and I am 5'6". I was around 140 when I gave up smoking.

I have to admit I am a garlicaholic! I can't get enough of the stuff and even enjoy breathing on people to share the joy! One of my favourite meals is to fry up about 12 cloves of garlic in a little olive oil, throw in a steak for a couple of minutes max each side so it is nicely rare, finish with a touch of butter for flavour and eat with a salad.

Welcome to BigandTall and Britzy!

@britzy - I think more important than fitting in exercise is to follow the MFP guidelines for daily calorie allowance. You will lose weight this way (I am living proof!) and once you lose weight feel a lot more like exercising. And please don't put your feelings and stresses into eating, that way lies even more pressure (don't ask how I know that!).

Good afternoon everybody.

Megblackburn- great job on running 5k
Salemnye- Good going on the extra 5 minutes on the elliptical and the 2 pounds gone
Evdjohnson- I too have a cat that thinks she is a dog
Tnsumner- wow quite a difference in the before and after. You look great

Today, is my hubby's birthday so I made his favorite breakfast and had only a small bit and am just putting his favorite dinner in the oven (turkey) so if I can hold myself to a single cupcake later I should be within my calories for the day. The best part of the day for me was that he loved his gift. I got him a new comfy bike. He has talked about going on rides with me for a couple of years but didn't have a bike. So, I took a bit of a risk getting him one. Unfortunately today was very rainy here in Seattle so we didn't really get to go for a ride.

@salemnye - Are they stuck in your shoes? I am supposed to wear orthotics bc of my silly flat feet but unfortunately lost them in our move across the country. My only guess is if you could somehow warm them up to the point where you could kind of tug them out without ripping your shoes to shreds. Maybe try a blow dryer on them? I don't want you to ruin your shoes though!

@ron2e - It sounds like you get to travel the world but not really see it. I hope that's not the case. Please tell me you get to do some tourist activities!
Shall we start a garlic-aholics anonymous? Spreading our love of garlic to people who have not discovered it? Haha, the visual of someone breathing their garlic breath on others is hilarious and disconcerting at the same time. My husband likes to take about a half cup of good olive oil and crush a couple garlic cloves in it and let it sit while he boils the water for pasta. After the pasta is done cooking and it's drained, he will strain the garlic out of the oil and add the oil to the pasta, let it sit for a minute and add a little parmesan cheese. It's SO good and oh so bad.

@jagkat - Hi! This might sound silly but have you thought about foods with a little more fiber? Fills you up quicker and you stay satisfied longer!

@sjo68 - I just wanted to say hello. So. Hello! I love Seattle and we are actually going to move there closer to the end of this year. Forgive my ignorance, but are there lots of places to hike around Seattle?

@rnbecker711 - Thank you for being a nurse. Two of my best friends are nurses and they are saints. Nurses and teachers definitely need to get paid more! There is nothing like realizing your clothes are getting too big and it's time to go shopping, no?

As a note, I'm so happy I found this thread. I hardly know any of you and I've only been on for a couple days but it feels great to know there are other people with names and faces who have/had struggles similar to mine with weight. So thank you!

@ron2e - It sounds like you get to travel the world but not really see it. I hope that's not the case. Please tell me you get to do some tourist activities!
Shall we start a garlic-aholics anonymous? Spreading our love of garlic to people who have not discovered it? Haha, the visual of someone breathing their garlic breath on others is hilarious and disconcerting at the same time. My husband likes to take about a half cup of good olive oil and crush a couple garlic cloves in it and let it sit while he boils the water for pasta. After the pasta is done cooking and it's drained, he will strain the garlic out of the oil and add the oil to the pasta, let it sit for a minute and add a little parmesan cheese. It's SO good and oh so bad.

I'm afraid I get to see airports, offices, hotels and restaurants in all sorts of countries and don't get much time for tourist things unless I'm lucky enough to have a weekend off in the relevant place. So far that has only happened in Barcelona, Hong Kong, South Africa and Netherlands. The long haul destinations are easier of course as it's not so quick and easy to get home for a weekend.

Yes I think we should spread the love of garlic, the more people who eat it, the more people you can kiss :laugh:

@ evdjohnson - I'm hardly a saint, but I love my job. And I'm quite thrilled to be looking at smaller sizes.:happy:

You are a saint, don't argue Thank goodness for people like yourself, I know it's a vocation, but that doesn't detract from the saintliness. Congratulations on being a smaller nurse

Hi everyone, I know I've been MIA for the last week. To say I did not cope well with the return to work is an underststent. None of it helped by my husband working overtime every night last week and both days this weekend. I fell apart and ate and ate and ate. It wasn't the right way to handle it but it is what happened. I am feeling much more positive today and am goin to start logging again. I will read all the posts at a later time. Hope you are all doing well!

Hi everyone, My name is Nadine and Im a student pharmacy technician. Ive about 150pounds to loose but my short term goal at the moment is to have lost 8 pounds by the end of may. Ive started the 5:2 diet to see how I get on it was reccomended to me by some friends who have found it great, so ill give it a go. Im off to read the thread now, so ill pop in again soon