<p>I <em>finally</em> starting exercising again today, got on the elliptical for ~ 40 min. I’ll have to make a playlist for my ipod - the girls loaded our itunes library with their stuff :rolleyes: .</p>
<p>I feel so good afterwards, if I can get back into the habit of doing it, it’ll definitely help with the weight. I exercised regularly for a two year span before my mother got sick and I slacked off.</p>
<p>blackeyedsusan, let me know how the paleo diet goes. We are getting closer and closer to eating paleo but haven’t given up the dairy and artificial sweeteners although we eat less and less of them as time goes by. We have given up all forms of grain and seed oils though after doing quite a bit of reading about the paleo diet. I had some chronic pain in my shoulders and in one ankle as well as some digestive issues which have completely gone away since giving up grains.</p>
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<p>The headaches are the classic symptom of caffeine withdrawal. Iced tea or coffee should take care of that. I would not try to cut out caffeine at the same time as kicking the sugar soda.</p>
<p>Izzie – I’ll report back. My son’s doing non-dairy, but I’m not that committed. I’m still planning on having some greek yogurt for breakfast. It’s a really very restrictive diet, so it’s tricky to figure out what to eat for certain meals (especially breakfast and lunch). While on a gluten free diet, there’s a lot of substitutes now, but Paleo is essentially food that hasn’t been processed. I guess it really forces you to think about what you’re eating. The upside is that my son is really learning how to cook this summer (the summer between graduating from college and starting his PhD program).</p>
<p>My husband likes his greek yogurt and we use a lot of butter so I don’t think we could go totally dairy free. Oh, and cheese. Yes, it would be hard. Good for your son though!</p>
<p>Bob’s Red Mill makes a ton of grain products and they’ve taken over the grain section in my regular supermarket. I noticed that they are big at Whole Foods too. Nice company with nice products.</p>
<p>I buy a lot of Bob’s Red Mill for my non-grain needs too, flaxseed meal and almond flour. We’re very satisfied customers.</p>
<p>Just bought “The Carbohydrate Addict’s Diet”. The diet can be summarized as eating 2 meals a day under Atkins rules, but one meal with anything you want. Gonna try it. That way I’ll just save my carbs for that meal. A lot of what the authors say make sense and certainly fits me. It’s easier for me to eat no carbs than limited carbs. That one ripped piece of Ciabatta just makes me crave more.</p>
<p>I did a very big shopping yesterday and today. First bought lots of low carb stuff. Some is what I eat (veggies, lowfat cheese, shrimp, crab, etc. Bought steaks, which I dont eat all that often. But today I bought lots of fresh fruit and some sushi and DS came over for lunch and dinner and we had bagel thins at lunch, by DH’s request. </p>
<p>Let me know how that diet works, cpt. That could possibly work.</p>
<p>Yes, cpt, that sounds doable.</p>
<p>Just found this thread today and finished reading from page 1! Good luck to everyone!</p>
<p>I gained about 12 pounds over a 2 year period and just didn’t feel good/like the way I looked. Limited efforts didn’t work so last June I gave up sugar–for me it’s just easier to not eat something rather than reduce. I allow myself sugar in condiments (i.e. ketchup, salad dressing) and that’s it. I lost about 14 pounds and hit my target within 3 months or so. It’s not really a diet, though, as occasionally I’ll have fries or chips–seems fine since I cut out so many other unhealthy things by giving up anything with processed sugar.</p>
<p>I did go on Atkins maybe 8 years ago or so and was on for 1.5 years so I know the low carb thing well…I had those same pesky 12 pounds to lose, which I did. The thing that worked for me about Atkins is that I felt satisfied because the food really filled me up…I only eat 2 meals a day with one snack either mid-afternoon or in the evening so lunch could be a turkey, egg salad or tuna sandwich with greens, cheese, etc without the bread and dinner might be a steak, sometimes with melted blue cheese–yum!–and broccoli and/or a salad. A snack might be macadmia nuts, peanuts or, on maintenance, grapes. One treat I’d make were parmasean crisps…pour a small mound of grated parm (I buy mine at Costco) onto a baking tray lined with foil and bake at 350 for about 5 minutes (going from memory so you can google a recipe or experiment). </p>
<p>I found Atkins/low to almost no carb pretty easy and tried to stay at 10 grams per day for quite awhile and then moved to 20 grams. Anyway, I had great success but, after 18 months, I just decided I was tired of it. I gained a bit back but not the whole thing. My more recent weight gain referenced above is related to menopause, slowing metabolism, etc, I think.</p>
<p>Exercise is my bigger hurdle…I just hate it…never had that endorphin high that others reference. Just turned 50 and am concerned about health in general…staying fit and strong so I’ll be able to stay active, etc. so, with renewed determination, have been to the gym twice in the last 3 days. Muscles hurt from the new activity but I know I have to keep it up. </p>
<p>Oh and, with regard to a scale, I weigh myself just about every day–if I am up a bit, I know to think more about what I eat. In addition to the no sugar, that’s not a day I’ll have an unhealthy treat like chips or fries.</p>
<p>Last comment is about diet coke…total addict here. Have 2-3 a day and don’t really drink anything else. If I’m fine with my weight, is there any reason I really HAVE to give up this vice…don’t really want to but, at the same time, sure want to be around for the grand kids that aren’t even on the horizon yet.</p>
<p>^^^
Congrats on your weight loss! My H has had similar success in the past by giving up sugar. Unfortunately he always goes back to his sweet tooth ways and gains it back. As far as the diet drinks go, there are a couple of reasons that I know of to give it up other than weight gain. From what I understand, it is very bad for bone density. If you are post menopausal, in particular, this may be an area of concern. Also, I heard somewhere that cola colored drinks have been linked to some kind of cancer or Kidney failure (I’ll have to try to look it up). That’s why I gave up rootbeer.</p>
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<p>Love, love, loved Diet Coke and gave it up in January when I started WW. I think that I have had two since then. I have not really missed it, but I probably do drink one extra coffee (after two cups at breakfast) a day in the afternoon.</p>
<p>The biggest change was that we finally got the refrigerator with the water dispenser in the door and I am drinking (or at least trying) more water.</p>
<p>EPTR,
Thanks. I know I may not be off sugar forever but I will hope that I won’t go back to habits that would bring me to that high about 14 points heavier than I am now…5 pounds I’m OK with; much more and it just doesn’t feel or look good.</p>
<p>MD Mom,
Have you noticed any difference after giving up DC? Why did you choose to give it up?</p>
<p>We had a “welcome back” party at work this morning for a woman who just returned from her stroke recovery. (The dear is 78 and came back to work!) </p>
<p>It was the usual office stuff (donut holes, a danish, muffins as big as softballs, etc). Then, tucked away at the end of the table was a platter of deviled eggs. Hurray! I didn’t have to decline everything and look like a food snob! What a relief.</p>
<p>Hooray for the deviled eggs! I was at a weekend reunion a year or so ago, with various people assigned to cover each meal, and at one breakfast the most popular offering was a large container of hard-boiled eggs. People planning meals at these events tend to use their best “company” recipes, while many of us are looking for simple, healthful foods with known nutrition profiles!</p>
<p>OK, I broke down and weighed myself. Dh’s visit to the doctor isn’t for 11 more days, and I didn’t want to wait that long to use the same scale. Down 5.1 pounds from the doctor’s appt. I has earlier this month. :)</p>
<p>Grilled massive amounts of meat and veggies yesterday to last for several days. Am going to try grilled chicken breast on a salad today instead of my usual Lean Cuisines, which, obviously, were getting me nowhere. What’s a yummy dressing you’ve tried??? I thought about a Ceasar. Couldn’t find a peanuty one.</p>
<p>collage1, let me “weigh” in on my coke/diet coke experiences.</p>
<p>As I have mentioned earlier, I LOVE coke. Still do. And over the years have switched from regular to diet (remember Tab) several times. When I first decided I needed to lose weight about four years ago, I switched to diet. What I discovered was that switch allowed me to think I could drink more than one coke per day, since it was diet coke.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, I am very sensitive to caffeine, and although I craved a kick mid-afternoon, it definitely affected my blood pressure. </p>
<p>In the last three months, I have pretty much abandoned either coke or diet coke. My tummy seems much flatter (no carbonation), I have fewer headaches, and although I still have a mid-afternoon slump, it is not as pronounced. The final push to quit was when I got my braces. I decided that I was spending a considerable sum to improve the appearance of my teeth, so I should be conscientious about the health of them as well.</p>
<p>I may have mentioned these before, but WILD GRILL makes an awesome salmon burger. Low carbs, low sodium, low fat and great protein. If you are not totally carb phobic, it tastes great on a bun with lettuce, tomato, onion, and a homemade dressing of smart balance mayo & lemon & dill. If you want to go no carbs, crumble it up and put on a salad. I have tried other frozen salmon burgers, but these are clearly the best.</p>
<p>I do not feel diet colas are addictive for me OR lead me to crave sweets. They are simply my drink of choice. (mainly Diet Pepsi) I am not a coffee drinker- I don’t like it. I drink iced tea, but it doesn’t always appeal to me the way the Diet Pepsi does, and it is more of a “process” with the lemon, sweetener etc. I don’t drink excessive amounts of diet soda and I, too, am sensitive to caffeine and can’t drink it after about 1pm. I used to drink caffeine-free diet colas later in the day.</p>
<p>That said, I have dramatically cut down on my cola consumption due to bone density issues. I may have one three or four days a week (more when on car trips…). My bone density doctor isn’t a fan of diet colas, but she is not of the camp that thinks you are doomed if one touches your lips. There are so many factors to consider, and in my case, genetics is the bad one. I run marathons- and I drink a moderate amount of diet cola. I’m doing the best I care to do with it, but to me they are not the devil’s poison!</p>