While chocolate is OK, my thing is salty carbs. Pizza, French fries, potato chips etc. Had a fund raiser for J's hockey team Saturday and started off good, half of my big plate was salad, 2 small pieces of cheese pizza, 1/4 cup of pasta salad and a 12oz beer. Then an hour or 2 later I mysteriously ended up with 2 more pieces of pizza and another 1/4 cup of pasta salad. Darn those carbs!!!

I rarely eat chips and I don't buy them because my husband would just eat them all and he doesn't need them. I do the same with sodas. If he wants them he can go to the store and buy them - he won't and so by default he doesn't eat them much either I do love chips and salsa once in a while - especially if we go to a good Mexican restaurant.
I also love pizza but unfortunately there is something about it that upsets my stomach - I can eat all the ingredients individually with no issue but put them all together and... so when my husband gets his favorite deep dish pie, I get a salad and have a piece of the crust.
My weakness is mostly cookies... I won't buy them any longer because I know I don't need them and I don't want all the crap they put in them, but I do still bake them sometimes when I NEED COOKIES Then I have a few and freeze the rest. Sometimes I even forget they are there and it is a big surprise and treat to discover them and have one!

I am doing pretty well with my recovery eating after too much celebration, weekend before last. I am also trying to modestly carb load and hydrate in prep for my race this Sunday.

I so wish I'd kept up with this thread!!!

the past three weeks have been -
on holiday and eating AS IF I was as active as I planned to be, whilst mostly watching Wimbledon (tennis) on television.
then two weeks of chest infection and cancelling every activity, not feeling much like cooking, trying to have a vegetarian week to get back to eating healthily then realising I really do find my gut feels better with meat, and there is nothing inherently HEALTHIER about vegetarian cooking. (actually plenty of vegetables cooked or salad plus a smattering of meat is probably the best natural diet for me, beans.....just don't taste the same)

So I've been eating c**p, and drinking red wine and/or rum which seems to slow down the coughing. Not cooking, not being active, and feeling miserable.

I give myself until Sunday (today is Friday) to snap out of this. I have a mountain of nutritious veggies to do something with (my veg box arrived this morning with more stuff!!!)

Here's to a healthy weekend, with the odd treat thrown in, because what is life without treats?*



*I am seeking ways to satisfy the 'treat' aspect of like without food.

Some good stuff here! I could use some accountability myself.

In March, 2015 I bought a fit bit and started walking. Two months later I started running. By October 2015 I had lost 45 pounds, going from 260 to 215 in a very steady decline. I've been as low as 206, but have never reached my goal. I spike up to 220+ during the Thanksgiving/Christmas period, get it back down in the spring, then it spikes back up to 220+ during the sailing season when my running drops and my alcohol and food consumption increases. Currently sitting at 218. My inability to get to my goal weight is really pissing me off. I did so well to get below 210 then it's like my will power went away.

I do great for breakfast and lunch. Most suppers are pretty good to. My biggest downfall, by far, is eating at night. I quit weighing my food, and quit logging and next thing I know, I'm full and it's time for bed. I really need to get back to the habits I had when I was losing steadily.

I'm looking at nutrition for two reason. First, to lose weight. Second, to eat better foods to feel better and perform better.

My thinking on eating has evolved since I started. The most drastic change my take on fat and carbs. I used to try to get low fat on everything I could. It was the only nutrition value I looked at when buying food, other than total calories. I didn't care about sugar or carbs. I figured if I paid attention to the fat, everything else would fall into place.

I've swung the other way and am now buying full fat foots and trying to eliminate refined carbs. MFP says I should have 50% of my macro-grams from carbs. I'm going for 30 to 40% carbs and making up the difference with fats. I embrace fats now, particularly when it's paired with a salty strip of meat...like BACON!!!

So today was an exception (picture explanation to follow) but I am eating more carbs and fat than I have before based on the recommendation from the sports nutrition... Now that is not supposed to be sugar junk carbs or potato chip carbs... it is supposed to be 'good' carbs; fruits, whole grain breads, sweet potatoes, even regular potatoes in limited amounts, other whole grains and rice. Pasta is an option too but again, but in limited amounts and whole grain. My macros are supposed to be 150gm carbs, 115gms of protein and 100gms fat. I can get the carbs in pretty easily but a) have a really difficult time eating enough of anything to get that much protein and fat in. She wants me to hit around 2000 calories/day and honestly this last week I haven't even gotten close AND I had ice cream (small amounts) 3-4 evenings. My goal this next week is to get restarted on this again. I did really well before my HM and let it all go by the wayside the last couple of weeks. Today as I said was an exception because my husband did this:

I don't even like doughnuts but I had to try some of these... they are from a new place (http://www.sidecardoughnuts.com/) that is fortunately not too near us so he has to drive a ways to get them. I did not eat a whole one but did sample bits from several. My favorite is the lemon poppyseed! There is also cookie dough doughnut sitting in the refrigerator waiting to be tasted and calling me Glad I got a good run in today!

ETA - Yes those 2 on the left are covered in bacon!

@shanaber - I'd have trouble hitting those macro targets, too. The specified carbs, protein, and fat add up to 1960 calories of your 2000; that's not much wiggle room for imprecise macros. I'd be more comfortable with ranges, and making sure I hit the bottom of the range for fat and protein.

FWIW, when I was in weight loss mode I had low fat cottage cheese, tuna (canned in water), and baked chicken breast as my go-to sources of lean protein. I ate a lot of almonds to get enough fat. And I never had any problem getting enough carbs. BUT, that was in a system with ranges. I was always near the bottom of the rage for fat grams, and I learned I had to target high in the range for protein grams to be satisfied.

Now, I set my total calories by what the scale tells me makes the weight trend sideways. Since this is much more than it was in weight loss mode, I just kept the minimum fat grams and protein grams from when I was losing weight. Then I have lots of wiggle room for carbs or more protein/fat.

And still, I have to steer clear of stuff that looks like your picture. Put it in front of me, and I'll be way over on calories without getting enough protein.

@RunRachelleRun - IIRC, when I was losing I was using a system that targeted 11%-25% of calories from protein, 20%-35% from fat, and 40%-70% from carbs. I sometimes struggled to get up to the bottom of the range for fat, learned from experience that I needed 20% from protein to be satisfied, and never had any issues with carbs being out of range.

In maintenance, I'm just using the minimum targets for fat and protein grams that I used in weight loss mode, which will be lower percentages of calories because I need to eat significantly more calories to maintain my weight in marathon training. I have a theory that everyone needs some minimum of fat, protein, and carbs for nutritional balance; but if your calorie allowance is high enough, it doesn't much matter which macro supplies the extra calories you need. People who have a very low calorie allowance may have to be careful to balance things to get all the nutrients they need.

@shanaber - Actually, I don't eat much tuna any more. It was attractive in the weight loss phase because it was pretty close to pure protein, and if I bought albacore packed in water I could handle eating out of the can with a fork for lunch. I wanted to pack things that I didn't need to put in the office refrigerator.

In retirement, without the need to pack things that don't have to be refrigerated, tuna rarely makes it to the top of the "what do I want to eat" list. I do eat a lot of eggs, which have some of the fat I need as well as a modest amount of protein.

I saw the nutritionist today and I have to say I am pretty excited... Yes my weight is up about 2 pounds but that increase was all in muscle mass and my body fat went down a percentage point! Visceral fat (stomach and organs) went down 2 points and 4 since my first scan. Not huge changes but moving in the right direction!
Since I am feeling better she wants me to make one of my runs an interval workout again! She said it is one of the best ways to build muscle and burn fat. I also have homework for the next month: to do better meal/menu planning ahead of time so I don't end up with a snack at lunch or missing it all together. @Elise4270, I may be looking for you to ping (harass) me on my news feed to get it done