<p>The OP asked for a diet-only suggestion: here is mine.</p>
<p>Stop eating while you’re still hungry. Go to bed hungry.</p>
<p>Hi everyone: OP here. Thank you all for such great posts and suggestions. My first goal is just to be mindful of what I’m eating each day. That will go a long way to changing some of my habits.</p>
<p>Someone pm’d me about eating a gluten free diet. Hmm. I don’t know anything about this, so something worth investigating.</p>
<p>Yes, I see that it’s much harder as I get older, through menopause, on several meds…but I will just begin slowly to change habits and be aware of what I’m eating and actually make a plan and stick to it. We are a big pasta family…are there gluten free pastas out there that we could substitute? I just need to look and educate myself…</p>
<p>I agree with it being a more individual approach and not being a one size fits all approach. I will take everyone’s suggestions and move forward in a way that I see working for me! Thanks, everyone! :)</p>
<p>Here’s mine, if you decide to keep a record of what you eat-- take a picture of whatever you are about to eat. Then you can sit down with your phone in the evening and write it all down. Sometimes you may find yourself thinking “How am I going to feel when I see this at the end of the day?” and resist. It forces you to be a little more mindful.</p>
<p>Op, I know all these ideas /suggestions sometimes make everything even more overwhelming and confusing!!</p>
<p>If you try to boil it down to a few simple points , here are mine:</p>
<p>Eat 20% less (smaller portions of everything on your plate)
Eat 20% healthier (less carbs on the plate, more vegs, lean protein, less dessert, etc)
Exercise 20% more ( make the 20 minute walk a 25 minute walk, if you walk 5000 steps a day , aim for 6000)</p>
<p>If you log your food and do the above for a couple weeks with success, you will start feeling more confident, maybe see some small results that will encourage you and then you can add additional components.</p>
<p>If I had seen this OP before anyone else had responded, I would have said “You are going to get as many suggestions as there are people responding.” And I would have been right!</p>
<p>There has been a lot of research about how insulin drives fat storage, and carbohydrates drive insulin release. Since you wrote that you are bread and pasta people, that might be part of what’s going on. Over time, some people who eat lots of simple carbohydrates (white flour, white rice, potatoes, sugar) become insulin resistant. The body has to produce more and more insulin in order to get glucose to the cells. If your insulin levels are consistently high due to over consumption of refined carbohydrates or even excessive consumption of complex carbohydrates like whole grains, you will gain weight. You will have trouble losing weight even if your weight has been stable for a while.</p>
<p>You may really have to cut down on the carbs, as much as you may hate to hear that.</p>
<p>Until you get off your medicine, the amount of weight you are trying to lose may be unrealistic. Perhaps just try to keep from gaining any more until you can get off the medication?</p>
<p>In any event, good luck.</p>
<p>As to the argument that it’s impossible to stop loving delicious foods:</p>
<p>When you give up certain foods, particularly foods high in sugar, you can find that you lose your cravings for them. That is not the same thing as deciding you don’t like that food anymore. It just doesn’t call your name out as much, it is easier to walk past it. But yes, if you did eat it, you’d probably love it just as much as before. That’s why I try not to “feed the beast,” because it just starts a cycle of cravings all over again. Others have no problem eating “just a little” ice cream or french fries or whatever. They are very fortunate people indeed.</p>
<p>I agree with that.</p>
<p>Congrats on the weight loss, CountingDown.</p>
<p>I really like how abasket boiled it down. Smaller portions made a big difference for me, as well as eating less carbs. DH loves pasta so I still make it, but I take very little to none of it.</p>
<p>Good luck, CCC. Start somewhere and don’t be overwhelmed with all the advice.</p>
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<p>Yes, exactly. So now it’s easier not to eat (in my case, brownies, cake, cookies) so it’s more of a conscious “do I really want to eat this and risk starting that cycle of craving up again?” versus before, when I really felt those foods had a hold on me and I could eat vast quantities. </p>
<p>Again speaking only for myself, but it feels like a true physiological change in me and my taste buds and cravings.</p>
<p>Don’t know if anyone mentioned this but not eating after about 6 pm could be helpful also.</p>
<p>I’d love to lose around 10 pounds as well. My problem is snacking - not on junk food, but on relatively healthy but high-calorie snacks. Almonds, yogurt, dried and fresh fruit, cheese. I find that the witching hour for me is from 3-5 in the afternoon. If I can keep from snacking then, I’m ok the rest of the day. I can snack on veggies while I prepare supper around 5:30 pm.</p>
<p>The idea of grazing all day, or having several small meals, doesn’t work for me. If I stick to 3 meals/day, I can usually lose weight.</p>
<p>Eating Well has a good website and I’ve made many recipes from [EatingWell</a> Serves Two: 150 Healthy in a Hurry Suppers: Jim Romanoff, The Editors of EatingWell: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/EatingWell-Serves-Two-Healthy-Suppers/dp/0881507237/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1378667210&sr=1-3&keywords=eating+well]EatingWell”>http://www.amazon.com/EatingWell-Serves-Two-Healthy-Suppers/dp/0881507237/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1378667210&sr=1-3&keywords=eating+well)</p>
<p>[Kalyn’s</a> Kitchen®](<a href=“http://www.kalynskitchen.com/]Kalyn’s”>http://www.kalynskitchen.com/)
This is another good website, especially for South Beach Diet-friendly recipes. I was bored with the recipes in the SBD book so it was great to find the ones on this well-organized website. All of the ones I’ve tried have been good.</p>
<p>My husband and I have been on the SBD for 3 months and have done pretty well on it. I’ve lost nearly 20 lbs. and he has lost about 25. Those first two weeks were tough with no carbs but phase 2 is much easier.</p>
<p>I’m another fan of the Fitbit, too. I never thought I could be motivated by a gadget, but I’m averaging over 10,000 steps a day! It’s great!</p>
<p>I consulted with a registered dietician who, after reviewing my eating habits, recommended a program for me. Two of her suggestions proved particularly helpful:
- No carbs after 5PM. This means fruit, pasta, rice, flour, sugar, etc.
- No eating at all after dinner.</p>
<p>I lost 20 lbs in 2 months. With another 10-15 to go, the weight loss is slower but I think it will happen.</p>
<p>“Go to bed hungry.” - I could go to bed not-full-up. But for me it’s hard to sleep hungry.</p>
<p>I have been doing cardio and weight training three days a week since July and tracking everything I eat on MyFitnessPal. I have lost and gained the same two pounds all summer and I am now at exactly the same weight I started. Uuggghhh. Menopause is not my friend either, but I think I could win at arm wrestling.</p>
<p>For me, it took being really serious about cardio to lose weight. Til then, I was just kidding myself that half-heartedly pedaling on the exercise bike or the elliptical while reading a magazine was doing the trick. Once I got honest with myself, I realized that I had to really work it – to be dripping with sweat, to really push myself, to be out of breath. Not accusing anyone here of being like me! Just saying that wrt exercise, it’s REALLY easy (IMO) to do light exercise and kid yourself into believing it’s enough cardio for weight loss.</p>
<p>I agree Pizzagirl. I think I’ve fooled myself. This year I started running. I might be the most unathletic person ever. But I haven’t noticed so much in the numbers of my weight but in how things fit. Shirts that were tight in the arms fit now, my pants are a little looser. Not much but I can tell. And the difference I feel is getting that heart rate up and sweating. I didn’t know I could sweat that much. </p>
<p>Chocolatechipcookie I know exercising is not possible right now but any moving you can do is better than not. At least that’s what I tell myself. I use to hate to exercise. Now I feel something is wrong if I don’t get out there and do something. Even if it’s playing golf, which is all I did today. But I walked instead of using a cart and that is 3 miles more than not. I have really surprised myself.</p>
<p>^^^ YES on watching <em>when</em> you eat. If I eat after 6 pm, I do not lose weight. For me, the timing is huge. </p>
<p>I have Greek nonfat yogurt w/granola (Costco’s pumpkin flax cereal is high protein, fairly low fat), make my main meal lunch, and then have a salad or fruit for dinner. Drives DH nuts, as he loves us having a big family meal – but it’s at 9-10 pm when he gets home from work. I also find that having the same thing for breakfast every day gets me in rhythm for the rest of the day – it is filling and having the same meal seems to tell my brain that I’m sated and don’t need to eat anything else for a while.</p>
<p>Thanks, all – would not recommend having the health issues that brought about this massive change in lifestyle! Get healthy now before your body gives out. I am darned lucky to be here to even say that.</p>
<p>I’m of the school that any exercise is good. Because of my cardiac issues, there is a limit to how much I can push, but I have been losing even without sweaty, to-the-wall workouts.</p>
<p>I also keep a food journal. Haven’t been writing in it lately and probably should – it is excellent discipline. I hate to fill an entire page with things I’ve eaten today, so that in itself is good motivation to pay attention to what goes into my mouth.</p>
<p>All that said, I think about food constantly.</p>
<p>OP: Do you have any vacation time coming? Want to lose 10 pounds with no dieting? Head up to high altitude. Spend a week at a mountain resort above 7,000 - 9.000 feet. The high altitude reduces your appetite and speeds up the metabolism. Studies have been done on this and it may be one reason why Colorado is the state with the fewest overweight residents.</p>
<p>I’ve actually had the opposite experience from Pizzagirl. I’ve been amazed at the difference doing a little bit every day makes. I’m talking about doing some pushups, goblet squats or kettleball swings as part of a coffee break, or a one or two mile walk. If I add that every single day, I lose weight. If I don’t I just stay in maintenance mode. I don’t need to break a sweat - though I try to do that at least twice a week.</p>
<p>And that’s another thing I’ve learned, everyone seems to be different. You need to figure out what works for you.</p>