Panama Canal Weight Loss/Weight Maintenance Motivation Group

[LindaBabe]

Holly,

I'm sorry you are going through a rough patch.

I want to take a minute and point out that you are in fact fighting two halves of yourself.

Let's give them names, shall we? The first is Right Now (rn for short) Right Now you want to eat that something, whatever it is. The other half is Long Term (LT) your over all health and well being. It turns out the LT is controlled by a lot of decisions made RN, and that is something to keep in perspective.

When faced with a choice, try to look at the long term, and view the choice in light of it getting you where you want to go.

I'm also in favor of printing out good quality prints of Lynne in CC and in her formal gown, and hanging them in your place of temptation (kitchen, dinning room). Those are pictures of a woman who was focused on LT, and got there!

Keep trying! You can do this, I know it!!!!

Katherine

WHAT AN AWESOME explaination! I'm going to copy it over to the other diet thread I'm on in the creative community, if I may, Katherine?

Why does it seem celebrations involve food and alcohol.

I find this interesting too - The government and health care industry have declared open season on obesity but what have they given us for help? The health insurance companies won't pay for gym memberships or other wellness activities. TV is totally loaded with commercials for food - NONE of it good for you. Magazines show oversize portions. Shows on the travel channel - 5 hours the other day of the words biggest and best - fried chicken, ribs, burgers, sundaes - ALL the things that are bad for you. EVERY family celebration, whatever one's religion or national origin revolves around food, every business or social function in evitably includes food.

So let me get this right, I have to get skinny BUT I have to eat to live? My doctor says I have to Work out BUT it can't be a prescription covered by my medical insurance and I can't even pay for it with my flexible spending medical account? Socializing is good for my mental health, but I'm not supposed to eat there? Does anybody see a disconnet here????!

This weekend, I went to the scrapbooking crop. Crops are well known for three things - scrapping, chatting, and FOOD, none of it good for us. I took a cooler with meatloaf, grilled chicken, veggies & dip, deviled eggs, apples and cheese, and a low carb no sugar coffee cake. The hostess in our section had donuts, bagels, and ordered a 4 foot grinder. Another woman baked cookies and brownies, and an antipasta baked crusty thing.

How did I do? eh. Well, the coffee cake was a hit with everybody - and totally disappeared. A small piece of the antipasta shot my sugar and said don't eat any more of me, I'm dangerous! I took the filling out of my piece of the sub and put it on a whole wheat flat. It was hard throwing that nice big Italian bread away, but eating it wasn't worth the price. Over the course of the weekend, I had 3 small italian almond cookies, but I avoided the vendor of home made donuts, and ice cream sundays. On the whole, I'd give myself an A or A-. I stuck with my eating plan 90% of the time except for the cookies. The antipasta was a learning experience - I probably should have known better.

Following on to what Katherine said, Here's a piece from Margrette Fletcher, Registered Dietician

 

[Aunt KatKat]

WHAT AN AWESOME explaination! I'm going to copy it over to the other diet thread I'm on in the creative community, if I may, Katherine?

I find this interesting too - The government and health care industry have declared open season on obesity but what have they given us for help? TV is totally loaded with commercials for food - NONE of it good for you. Magazines show oversize portions. Shows on the travel channel - 5 hours the other day of the words biggest and best - fried chicken, ribs, burgers, sundaes - ALL the things that are bad for you. EVERY family celebration, whatever one's religion or national origin revolves around food, every business or social function in evitably includes food.

So let me get this right, I have to get skinny BUT I have to eat to live? My doctor says I have to Work out BUT it can't be a prescription covered by my medical insurance and I can't even pay for it with my flexible spending medical account? Socializing is good for my mental health, but I'm not supposed to eat there? Does anybody see a disconnet here????!

Following on to what Katherine said, Here's a piece from Margrette Fletcher, Registered Dietician

“The war ended with the capitulation of Paris in January (1871), after a siege of four months, during which the beleaguered citizens ate pet cats and elephants from the Paris zoo”

The Path Between the Seas page 55.

Our current situation is unprecedented in human history. We have an over abundance of calorie choices, and many industries who have poised their very livelihood on influencing our purchases. They have every incentive to make stuff taste really good, and no incentive to make it good for us. This leads to imbalance in the market place.

Traditional celebrations were framed around the fact that abundance was not a given, and when you had extra food, you had a party to celebrate the bounty.

We are still called on to be good stewards of ourselves, though, we face many more temptations.

Linda feel free to use anything of mine you or anyone else might find useful.

Thank you for your compliment on my explanation I thought, “Oh no! I’m a thread killer!”

Katherine

 

[carmie3377]

Happy Monday everyone! HOpe everyone had an excellent weekend.

I skipped out on exercising yesterday. I do plan on returning today though. Food was okay. I did eat ice cream from Cold Stone but that was my only splurge. I bought the "Like It" size in a cup, which is the smallest and then shared it with DH. So it could have been a lot worse.

I will weight today when I go to the gym tonight and post.

 

[Disneymoon0909]

Hey all...i have been without power since Friday, still out, will post as soon as I can!

 

[JenKatt]

Hey all...i have been without power since Friday, still out, will post as soon as I can!

Holly: STAY WARM!!! And he's to hoping the power is back on soon!

 

[JenKatt]

Found this on the WW website and thought of ya'll.....

Don't Let a Cruise Sink Your Good Intentions
5 foolproof ways to eat smart (and know when to splurge) on a cruise
We're all about choices. So a cruise vacation might seem to be the best expression of our style. Indeed, on a recent Mediterranean cruise we experienced firsthand what it's like to eat well (and healthily) on a luxury liner.

Our choices were endless: 24 hours a day, in multiple restaurants plus room service. Turns out, we found plenty of good possibilities and developed foolproof strategies for enjoying great food without losing sight of our healthy eating habits. Here's what we discovered: 1. Ask for what you want
Cruise ships are known for service. Take advantage of that. In the main dining room, have your courses the way you like them — even out of order. An appetizer of grilled pineapple spears makes a better dessert anyway.
Or maybe none of the entrées suits your fancy, so order several appetizers: the chilled cucumber soup, the shrimp cocktail and the melon balls in poppy seed dressing. On our cruise, we asked for the split king crab legs appetizer in a double portion as our entrée.
Our buffet's wok station offered two dishes each day. We chose neither. Instead, we asked for a fresh vegetable stir-fry. Remember, the set dishes are simply a guide. Go from there and build your own meal.
In the main dining room, think ahead. If you ask a day in advance, you can get almost anything you want: a piece of grilled fish, steamed vegetables or even broiled lobster tails. We discovered there were East Indian and Filipino chefs in the kitchen on our ship. On two nights, we asked our steward to skip the big menu, and we had special East Indian and Filipino dinners prepared for us, far lighter fare and very tasty. The fiery Biryani was out of our dreams.

2. Meet the maitre d' and the dining stewards
Introduce yourself. The friendlier you are, the more likely you can get what you want. The maitre d' controls the dining room's flow; he can also place special orders. Your table steward will soon learn what you want and how you like it. Remember this: It's much easier to get what you want if you've built a relationship first. We would never have gotten those Indian and Filipino specialties if we hadn't gotten friendly with the staff.

3. Practice portion control
The buffet's carving station is a great choice for lunch. Whether pork, turkey, lamb or beef, ask the chef to trim the fat and give you a thin slice or two. Skip the buttery gravies and sides and head for the salad bar for fresh vegetables and fat-free salad dressings (which make excellent dips for roasted meat, by the way).
If you have a cocktail, you'll be offered freebies: nuts, cheese and salmon puffs. Skip them; they're not worth the POINTS® values. If you'd like a snack with your drink, head first to the buffet and grab a plate of celery sticks and cherry tomatoes.

4. Eat at regular hours
Food is available 24 hours a day, but you needn't eat day and night. Besides, the best food is available at meal times. Most of the between-meal offerings are not worth the POINTS values: Cold omelets, fatty burgers and soggy tacos.
Skip the midnight buffet. If you don't eat lukewarm banana fritters and greasy meatballs at midnight at home, don't eat them on board. Instead, go dancing, work up a good pulse rate and indulge in a glass of Champagne.
Avoid room service, too. It's just an excuse to eat congealed food with limited choices. Better to show up at a gala dinner hungry so you can relish every bite.
That said, room service will be happy to keep a bowl of fresh fruit in your room if you ask for it.

5. Look at everything before choosing
If you choose the buffet instead of the dining room, do a full reconnaissance of the stations before deciding. You'll be less likely to fill up on macaroni and cheese before spying the grilled salmon sandwich that you really wanted. The same goes for the dining room. Read the menu fully. Don't be tempted by the titles. Look at what's on the whole plate then make your selection. Or make a hybrid selection. One night, we asked for the prime rib with the grilled asparagus off the fish plate and the roasted tomato off the vegetarian entrée.
The same goes for the gala dessert buffet, usually served poolside and the biggest splurge on the cruise. We skipped the cream puffs and petit fours and went straight for the chocolate-dipped strawberries and marzipan pieces that decorated the serving platters. But we knew our choices because we'd made a complete promenade around the desserts. We felt free to indulge, knowing we had made the best choices, and knowing that even the gala dessert buffet was not going to sink our lifestyles.

 

[poohs4me]

Hi Everyone.

I am back on track - well if you count one day of eating right and exercising as back on track. Just wanted to post.

 

[KayR]

Hi Everyone.

I am back on track - well if you count one day of eating right and exercising as back on track. Just wanted to post.

Of course it counts.

One day at a time!

-Kay

 

[LindaBabe]

Found this on the WW website and thought of ya'll.....

Don't Let a Cruise Sink Your Good Intentions
5 foolproof ways to eat smart (and know when to splurge) on a cruise
We're all about choices. So a cruise vacation might seem to be the best expression of our style. Indeed, on a recent Mediterranean cruise we experienced firsthand what it's like to eat well (and healthily) on a luxury liner.

Our choices were endless: 24 hours a day, in multiple restaurants plus room service. Turns out, we found plenty of good possibilities and developed foolproof strategies for enjoying great food without losing sight of our healthy eating habits. Here's what we discovered: 1. Ask for what you want
Cruise ships are known for service. Take advantage of that. In the main dining room, have your courses the way you like them — even out of order. An appetizer of grilled pineapple spears makes a better dessert anyway.
Or maybe none of the entrées suits your fancy, so order several appetizers: the chilled cucumber soup, the shrimp cocktail and the melon balls in poppy seed dressing. On our cruise, we asked for the split king crab legs appetizer in a double portion as our entrée.
Our buffet's wok station offered two dishes each day. We chose neither. Instead, we asked for a fresh vegetable stir-fry. Remember, the set dishes are simply a guide. Go from there and build your own meal.
In the main dining room, think ahead. If you ask a day in advance, you can get almost anything you want: a piece of grilled fish, steamed vegetables or even broiled lobster tails. We discovered there were East Indian and Filipino chefs in the kitchen on our ship. On two nights, we asked our steward to skip the big menu, and we had special East Indian and Filipino dinners prepared for us, far lighter fare and very tasty. The fiery Biryani was out of our dreams.

2. Meet the maitre d' and the dining stewards
Introduce yourself. The friendlier you are, the more likely you can get what you want. The maitre d' controls the dining room's flow; he can also place special orders. Your table steward will soon learn what you want and how you like it. Remember this: It's much easier to get what you want if you've built a relationship first. We would never have gotten those Indian and Filipino specialties if we hadn't gotten friendly with the staff.

3. Practice portion control
The buffet's carving station is a great choice for lunch. Whether pork, turkey, lamb or beef, ask the chef to trim the fat and give you a thin slice or two. Skip the buttery gravies and sides and head for the salad bar for fresh vegetables and fat-free salad dressings (which make excellent dips for roasted meat, by the way).
If you have a cocktail, you'll be offered freebies: nuts, cheese and salmon puffs. Skip them; they're not worth the POINTS® values. If you'd like a snack with your drink, head first to the buffet and grab a plate of celery sticks and cherry tomatoes.

4. Eat at regular hours
Food is available 24 hours a day, but you needn't eat day and night. Besides, the best food is available at meal times. Most of the between-meal offerings are not worth the POINTS values: Cold omelets, fatty burgers and soggy tacos.
Skip the midnight buffet. If you don't eat lukewarm banana fritters and greasy meatballs at midnight at home, don't eat them on board. Instead, go dancing, work up a good pulse rate and indulge in a glass of Champagne.
Avoid room service, too. It's just an excuse to eat congealed food with limited choices. Better to show up at a gala dinner hungry so you can relish every bite.
That said, room service will be happy to keep a bowl of fresh fruit in your room if you ask for it.

5. Look at everything before choosing
If you choose the buffet instead of the dining room, do a full reconnaissance of the stations before deciding. You'll be less likely to fill up on macaroni and cheese before spying the grilled salmon sandwich that you really wanted. The same goes for the dining room. Read the menu fully. Don't be tempted by the titles. Look at what's on the whole plate then make your selection. Or make a hybrid selection. One night, we asked for the prime rib with the grilled asparagus off the fish plate and the roasted tomato off the vegetarian entrée.
The same goes for the gala dessert buffet, usually served poolside and the biggest splurge on the cruise. We skipped the cream puffs and petit fours and went straight for the chocolate-dipped strawberries and marzipan pieces that decorated the serving platters. But we knew our choices because we'd made a complete promenade around the desserts. We felt free to indulge, knowing we had made the best choices, and knowing that even the gala dessert buffet was not going to sink our lifestyles.

I went on two cruises back to back last year and didn't gain an ounce. (Didn't lose one either, but not upset about it) I pretty much followed those suggestions except it's carbs I skip and fat meat I eat (and bacon, eggs, cheese, etc.)

Disney ships are pretty easy - after I asked for extra veggies twice in a row, Every night thereafter, I was presented with a beautiful plate of barely done cauliflower, broccoli and carrots. After I raved about the horseradish remoulade with a shrimp appy, my veggies were accompanied by a cereal bowl full of the stuff. And they always have chicken, fish and beef, and berries if you want them for dessert.

I've been reading. IF you're serious about wanting to lose weight and heep it off and lead a health life forevermore, even if you're not into "low carb", may I recommend reading "Living the Low Carb Life" by Jonny Bowden. Chapter 3, where they talk about the low carb diets was the least interesting, but the rest of the book, I found fascinating. It has given me plenty of food for thought to chew on!

Today, I went for a brisk walk, instead of the gym. About the distance of twice around or maybe 3 times around deck 4 - it was pretty chilly and by the time I got home the lungs were burning and my hips and back hurt. Tomorrow, I'm going back to the gym and pool - it's easier!

Today, I ate
Breakfast
1/2 cup melon
3 bacon
2 eggs
1 whole wheat flat

Lunch
Chicken Salad
veggies with dressing
the small half of a cranberry muffin

Supper
The rest of the chicken salad
the other half of the veggies
1 whole wheat mini bagel with cheese

Snack
5 almonds
piece of cheese.

Have a good night, everybody!

 

[poohs4me]

I was good for another day yesterday!! YEAH!!! I ate healthy AND remembered to walk on the treadmill.

Today could be harder, there is a meeting where they are serving lunch. I am debating whether I could pack my own and just sneak away for the lunch portion. We will see.

 

[LindaBabe]

I was good for another day yesterday!! YEAH!!! I ate healthy AND remembered to walk on the treadmill.

Today could be harder, there is a meeting where they are serving lunch. I am debating whether I could pack my own and just sneak away for the lunch portion. We will see.

GOOD FOR YOU!

And, Yes, you can! Heck, I didn't even sneak away - just ate it, lol. If anybody raised an eyebrow I just told them I had to make sure there was food available that was on my eating plan.

Meeting food can be pretty easy - if it's sandwiches, eat the filling and bag the bread. UNless its an italian buffet with stuff all mixed together. THAT's tough. I've eaten many an antipasta and nothing else.

 

[3mmm]

Good Morning

Been following along and entered my weights, but never formally signed in here. Would love to lose 20 pounds, but even more important is fitness. Starting last week I've been exercising. Up to 60 minutes on the treadmill - alternating running and walking. I hate exercise, but I'm going to stick with it. Instead of dieting, I'm focusing more on portion control and good food choices - everything in moderation. We'll see how it goes. Of course, today, I have a raging headache and head cold, so I'm taking it easy, thus the time to actually post here.

I think this cold is proof that exercise really does make me sick - I haven't been sick all winter, now one week into exercising and I feel like crap - LOL.

Hopefully, tomorrow will be a better day. Now all I have to do avoid the chocolate chip cookies my sitter made with my son yesterday. They're calling my name!

 

[carmie3377]

Welcome 3mmm!!! Hope you start feeling better soon.

I'm continuing to exercise and trying eat good. I think I'm doing well until I step on the scale. It hasn't budged since last week! I'm so frutrated - working out 1+ hour a day, passing up on high fat and high calorie foods, yet I'm not losing. I have been under some stress lately and I know that can hinder weight loss.

But, I'm admitting now, I am going to be bad today - really bad. One of my friends is treating me to lunch for my bday then hubby is taking me to the Cheesecake Factory tonight. I am going to exercise though. My friend has been encouraging me to cheat on my diet to trick my metabolism so perhaps this will work. Maybe I need to change up my exercise routine too. I've got about 11 more pounds I want to lose but would be happy with 5 or 6. Just like the old saying "the last 10 are the hardest to lose!"

 

[JenKatt]

I've not been exercising. I've felt like crud for the last few weeks. Went to the doc today (nurses are the worst patients) - I have bronchitis. It'll be a few days before I even try to get back into the swing of exercising.

 

[Disneymoon0909]

Hello Ladies!!!

Miss me? LOL. I am officially back in business I have my power and services all back in order...just in time for me to leave for Florida for 6 days, haha. If you could all send me your weigh-ins for this week and next weeks when you get them as well and I will post two weeks worth of weights when I get back on Wednesday I will be at Disney for one day (Sunday) and am not sure how much service I will have or time for that matter as I am going to be busy with family but email, Pm, or post here and I will fill in the chart as soon as I get back! KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK LADIES!!! It has definitely been a hard 2 weeks for me but I am now more determined then ever, this will be the time

Cheerio,

Holly

 

[Aunt KatKat]

Hello Ladies!!!

Miss me? LOL. I am officially back in business I have my power and services all back in order...just in time for me to leave for Florida for 6 days, haha. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK LADIES!!! It has definitely been a hard 2 weeks for me but I am now more determined then ever, this will be the time

Cheerio,

Holly

I missed you Holly, enjoy your holiday!

I was not good with food today, mostly bread, but I did eat some vegetable soup. I worked out on Monday, and will again Thursday.

Two steps forward, one step back.

Katherine

 

[LindaBabe]

Welcome 3mmm!!! Hope you start feeling better soon.

I'm continuing to exercise and trying eat good. I think I'm doing well until I step on the scale. It hasn't budged since last week! I'm so frutrated - working out 1+ hour a day, passing up on high fat and high calorie foods, yet I'm not losing. I have been under some stress lately and I know that can hinder weight loss.

Muscle weighs more than fat.

Suggest you read that low carb Life book - FAT does not make you fat - carbs do.

Let's think about it. When farmers want to fatten animals, do they feed them fat? NO! They feed them corn and grain. Does it not stand to reason that grains would fatten US up too?

I've not been exercising. I've felt like crud for the last few weeks. Went to the doc today (nurses are the worst patients) - I have bronchitis. It'll be a few days before I even try to get back into the swing of exercising.

Poor Baby! That bronchitus is miserable stuff!

Hello Ladies!!!

Miss me? LOL. I am officially back in business I have my power and services all back in order...just in time for me to leave for Florida for 6 days, haha. If you could all send me your weigh-ins for this week and next weeks when you get them as well and I will post two weeks worth of weights when I get back on Wednesday I will be at Disney for one day (Sunday) and am not sure how much service I will have or time for that matter as I am going to be busy with family but email, Pm, or post here and I will fill in the chart as soon as I get back! KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK LADIES!!! It has definitely been a hard 2 weeks for me but I am now more determined then ever, this will be the time

Cheerio,

Holly

OF COURSE we missed you, Holly! Glad you are back. Have a GREAT time at Disney!

I was not good with food today, mostly bread, but I did eat some vegetable soup. I worked out on Monday, and will again Thursday.

Two steps forward, one step back.

Katherine

Baby Steps! You CAN do it!

Yesterday, I ate
Snack
1/2 wwh mini bagel with 1 T pb

Breakfast
slice of melon
3 bacon
2 egg mushroom omlet
2 pieces of that really skinny black pumpernickel (28 carbs)

Lunch
Salad with feta and olives
1/2 a full sugar, full fat, white flour cranberry muffin

Snack
1/2 apple
chunk of store cheese

Supper
Smoked pork chop
1/2 cup mixed brown rice and couscous (because there wasn't enough rice)
1 cup of broccoli

Snack at bedtime
a sugarfree cough drop - because i'd been coughing so much my back hurt

Happy day, all!

 

[poohs4me]

Bronchitis is awful!! Feel better JennKat and don't push to hard. My mom's bronchitis often ends up in Pnuemonia. But then she does not stop, keeps pushing.

I made it through the meeting (lunch was BBQ). I just left. No one cared but then again it was a huge meeting, so they might care but really did not notice.

I was struggling to see the scale move at one point and someone told me a couple of things first, an hour of the same thing on the treadmill is not enough that I needed to vary the speed or the incline. Second, add a cheat day. Now I did both of those, but the cheat day I had was nothing like I really wanted. I would allow myself some french fries or.......no I guess I did not allow much else. Just french fries. Oh wait I thought of something Pizza from the neighborhood place. Not the stuff I make at home. I eventually lost, but I don't really know what started it.

 

[LindaBabe]

Bronchitis is awful!! Feel better JennKat and don't push to hard. My mom's bronchitis often ends up in Pnuemonia. But then she does not stop, keeps pushing.

Yup, that's what happened to me.

I made it through the meeting (lunch was BBQ). I just left. No one cared but then again it was a huge meeting, so they might care but really did not notice.

Barbecue is tough - it's loaded with sugar. Our favorite road food used to be famous dave's. There is nothing on that menu I can eat any more except firecracker green beans, and they were so hot even washing them didn't help!

I was struggling to see the scale move at one point and someone told me a couple of things first, an hour of the same thing on the treadmill is not enough that I needed to vary the speed or the incline. Second, add a cheat day. Now I did both of those, but the cheat day I had was nothing like I really wanted. I would allow myself some french fries or.......no I guess I did not allow much else. Just french fries. Oh wait I thought of something Pizza from the neighborhood place. Not the stuff I make at home. I eventually lost, but I don't really know what started it.

I started putting that Low Carb Life book into practice yesterday. One of the links in the back said one doesn't have to work out Long periods - just short workouts with intervals of really pushing. So yesterday, instead of 30 minutes on the cross trainer, I did 10 minutes - 2 minutes normal speed, 30 seconds just as fast as I could go, repeat. The other thing, was have an extra snack. this morning, I was down 1.5 pounds.

The other hint was to lift weights. I did a full set of what I can do and hope to work up to real weights soon. The reasoning is - muscle burns more calories than fat does, so you need to build muscle. I might buy a session with a personal trainer in June. I hope I will be ready to move up by then.

http://learnlowcarb.com/bb/viewforum.php?f=34http://learnlowcarb.com/bb/viewforum.php?f=34

Scroll down. The ones you want are by graeme - n- kate

 

[Aunt KatKat]

Yup, that's what happened to me.

I started putting that Low Carb Life book into practice yesterday. One of the links in the back said one doesn't have to work out Long periods - just short workouts with intervals of really pushing. So yesterday, instead of 30 minutes on the cross trainer, I did 10 minutes - 2 minutes normal speed, 30 seconds just as fast as I could go, repeat. The other thing, was have an extra snack. this morning, I was down 1.5 pounds.

The other hint was to lift weights. I did a full set of what I can do and hope to work up to real weights soon. The reasoning is - muscle burns more calories than fat does, so you need to build muscle. I might buy a session with a personal trainer in June. I hope I will be ready to move up by then.

http://learnlowcarb.com/bb/viewforum.php?f=34http://learnlowcarb.com/bb/viewforum.php?f=34

Scroll down. The ones you want are by graeme - n- kate

That's one of the reasons I'm so happy with my Kathy Smith step work out. She's broken down to three stages beginning, intermediate and advanced. She follows up with a cool down, then abs, weight lifting and a through body stretch.

I've been doing it since 2008, and I still haven't made it to the advanced level. I can do the beg, int and the rest in 60 min. I feel so good after the workout, that it becomes a motivator to do it again!

Katherine