<p>Nrdsb4 - earlier on this thread, someone mentioned drinking lots of ice water to make the body burn more calories, but I find that if I drink something cold, I want to eat something right away! A cup of hot tea (either with a teaspoon of honey or unsweetened) staves off hunger for me much better than a glass of cold water.</p>
<p>I used to be addicted to Sugar Smacks, the popped wheat cereal with the sugar coating, so teriwitt, I feel your pain. Do they even make them anymore? What a terrible name for a cereal!</p>
<p>Now, I really hate cereal. I can’t stand the way Cheerios smell. Can I make a confession here and say I am sick to death of fruit right now? I also don’t like the Fage yogurt at all. (sorry, I’m really cranky today. D left for college yesterday and I am missing her so, so much). <em>cough</em>…I did discover kefir recently, which is a liquid version of yogurt and it is really tasty and very good for you. You can make smoothies with it or just pore it over strawberries.</p>
<p>s is going back to school tomorrow so I made cookies…blah…can’t stay away from them. Oh yeah, they have oatmeal and walnuts and dark choc, but cookies are cookies! </p>
<p>On the topic of yogurt, I do like greek yogurt. But lately, I’ve also been buying Kefir (like Mousegray). I pour it over berries and add some wheat germ. Supposedly, the calcium in Kefir is very easy to absorb. I’m waiting for some silly report to come out though “Kefir drinkers have a 30% higher rate of cataracts or alzheimers” or some nonsense…it’s hard to keep up with all these research reports.</p>
<p>another kefir user here. I mix it with pom juice. I also love pom juice with sparkling water. I know it has sugar, but it is such a great little treat. I am trying to substitute the pom/sparkling water for wine. Not quite the same, but still very nice.</p>
<p>from Wikipedia:
In a 2008 comparison of the nutritional value of 27 cereals, U.S. magazine Consumer Reports found that both Honey Smacks and Post Cereals’ Golden Crisp were the two brands with the highest sugar content - more than 50 percent (by weight) -, commenting “There is at least as much sugar in a serving of Kellogg’s Honey Smacks […] as there is in a glazed doughnut from Dunkin’ Donuts”. </p>
<p>No wonder I was hooked on that stuff. My 50 yr old body probably couldn’t handle it now. I also can’t eat doughnuts anymore. I go into sugar shock.</p>
<p>IMO-it is all about being healthy and feeling good. Whatever way you get there, good for you. There are no guarantees that we will live longer or better, no matter what routine we persue .</p>
<p>I am sure we all have anecdotal stories or experiences supporting something or other (My FIL was very thin, never drank or smoked, was very careful about what he ate and worked in a low stress very physical job in a small city. My Dad smoked and drank (socially), worked in a high stress job in NYC, ate everything and gained weight in his middle years (was very athletic in his younger years). They both died around the same age. My FIL was 2 years older when he died.</p>
<p>So what is my point? I don’t really know. I think it is good to try and be healthy and feel good. But I do not think it is good to give up all or most things that we like/love or be obsessive. (Unless you enjoy being obsessive)</p>
<p>And I do not think it is healthy or good for the soul to even begin to compare ourselves to our 20 something D’s. We are in our 50’s (as most of you have indicated) FGS! One day they will be in their 50’s!</p>
<p>Viva La 50’s! No I am not skinny. And I do have flabby arms. And my skin is white. (Oh, and I’ve had basil cell cancer removed twice. My dad, a tanner, developed melanoma.)</p>
<p>I do to eat very well and exercise. But, what the h…l, eat frosted mini wheats if it makes you happy and you are otherwise healthy!</p>
I like that philisophy, morrismm!
<p>Thankyou, Mousegray, for vindicating my donuts 
I really eat them donuts reasonably often. to keep the blood sugar level up. </p>
<p>Bad and Good news today.
Bad, My bicycle is pretty much regulated to the, only-to-be-used-in-emergency.
Good news, I didn’t like this bike very much. I’d rather use the steel bike for its softer ride.</p>
<p>I just want to chime in that I agree with post #426. I have donuts once or twice a year(eventhough they are not Dunkin Donuts). I hate counting calories and exercise iwith the stairmasters. However, I like to swim and garden. That is all the exercise I need and I always eat what I like. That is my philosophy.</p>
<p>MiamiDAP - Congrats on all of those crunches! Way to go!</p>
<p>I am trying to lose 50 pounds. According to the Weight Watchers chart, I really need to lose 70. If I can lose 50 and maintain it, I would be so happy. I lost it 3 years ago, but gained it all back. It seems that maintaining is harder than losing for me.</p>
<p>A regular Krispy Kreme is only about 200 calories. That’s not bad. You can fit them into a regular diet. The issue with sweets is that the more you eat the more you want to eat. The best advice is to avoid diet drinks because they stimulate that urge and then you eat more desserts and snacks. </p>
<p>Everyone has trouble keeping weight off. It gets really weird when you realize that evidence suggests even if you have fat cells removed surgically, your body will somehow realize that they’re missing and make more. That “set point” for weight is apparently pretty complicated.</p>
<p>About WW, I saw the ad with Marie Osmond and she looks really good.</p>
<p>morrismm - regarding the lifestyles of your father and grandfather. Yes, they were very different, yet both lived to about the same age. However, had your grandfather not valued the healthy living styles he did, you don’t know when he might have died. Those choices may have given him 20 years more than he otherwise would have had. Sorry to be such a downer about it all, but I work in hospice and I hear this all the time from people… “He/she/I never smoked, never drank, exercised regularly and ate as healthy as it comes. Why did he/she/I get this awful disease?” My answer to them is that we have to believe that our healthy choices do have an impact, but we never know what that impact is because we don’t have a duplicate of that person to do a blind study on. </p>
<p>I appreciate all the suggestions and laments regarding my Frosted Mini Wheats saga. While I was a the gym today I was reading some magazine (not serious journalism, though) that had an article in it about many of the new sweeteners that some of you have mentioned, and Stevia was one of them. After running errands in an area that I don’t typically go, I passed by The Fresh Market on my way home and decided to check it out. Was much happier with the options there than at my local chain grocery store - fruit and veggies much more appealing. Seems like they avoid many of the highly processed items at large stores. So I did pick up some Stevia. They also had fresh pecans - our chain grocers have been out of them for a few weeks. Also picked up some multi-grain english muffins and treated myself to one tonight with some ‘I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter’ and some strawberry Polaner all-fruit spread. Boy did it hit the spot. Unfortunately, The Fresh Market is over eight miles from my home, so regular visits won’t be likely. But it’s nice to know it’s there.</p>
<p>The next topic I’d like to see discussed here is what do you all do when you’re out and about and need a quick bite to eat? My tendencies in the past have been to get a junior bacon cheeseburger at Wendy’s, or a couple of chipotle snack wraps at McDonald’s, thinking they had to be better than regular burgers and fries. It’s minimally true, but then I discovered a small chili from Wendy’s is only 190 calories! And very filling (but not something I can eat while driving). So what are your secrets for healthier eating when you occasionally have to do fast food? I will be driving D2 back to school next week and be at the mercy of fast food/restaurants for almost three days (we leave Saturday and I fly back Monday night).</p>
<p>teriwtt:</p>
<ul>
<li>Rubios - Fiesta Salad Bowl. </li>
<li>Other fast Mexican places (there are a lot around here) - A chicken tostada and eat down to the shell but skip the shell or a chicken burrito with no rice, no sour cream, etc. and dump it out from the tortilla and throw the tortilla away - especially throw the tortilla away!</li>
<li>KFC - One Grilled chicken breast.</li>
<li>Any burger place - A burger but don’t eat the bun and don’t order fries and of course, no shake.</li>
</ul>
<p>Haven’t heard of Rubios, but I did check Taco Bell’s website as I have ordered their Fresco Grilled Steak Soft Taco… it’s 160 calories per taco. I usually get two, so that’s not too bad.</p>
<p>The only other chain Mexican place is Chipotle, and I almost guarantee there’s nothing there within the calorie range I’d like to keep! And I never get the tortilla there.</p>
<p>Don’t think I could ever go into a KFC.</p>
<p>terriwtt- I agree that one will never know how old my Dad would have lived given a different life style. I do know, however, that he said he would rather live a shorter life enjoying the things in life he enjoyed rather than a longer life giving them all up. His philosophy, not mine.</p>
<p>He died at (or around) the average US male age.</p>
<p>Just signed up on the My Plate forum recommended on this thread way back in an earlier post. Aside from having to figure out how the whole thing works, it looks good – and it’s free! As a result, just dropped my paid subscription to the Weight Watchers Online program. My Plate seems to offer pretty much the same tools, and free is always good.</p>
<p>Whoo-hoo!</p>
<p>Week 1 - I just lost 5 pounds! Went to the YMCA 4 times and wrote down what I ate in a brand new steno pad with a brand new pen. Silly, I know. But it works for me. </p>
<p>Anybody else weighing yourself? How are you doing? </p>
<p>And before someone says it’s “water” weight. I know. And I don’t care. It is 4 pounds off my body. I will take it! </p>
<p>So happy!</p>
<p>Going to a restaurant tonight with hubby. Need to figure out some changes to make there. Usually have 2 rolls with butter AND a baked potato with butter and sour cream. Something has to go. Or be cut in 1/2 or 1/4. </p>
<p>I love this thread.</p>
<p>^^^ congratulations eddie! I’m with you – don’t care if it’s water weight or any other kind of weight – it’s still weight! I’ll weigh myself 1x/week, and it’s not today. Hoping for good results. And I get the new notebook/new pen thing. Again, whatever works.</p>