<p>I love chips and bread. I rarely eat chips anymore. They are a downhill slopping food for me.
Day 3. I am feeling motivated to track my eating. I am happy to report that my afternoon cookie obsession has been put to rest at least for today. I am impressed that I feel so much better when I don’t have that afternoon sugar.
How is everyone else doing?</p>
<p>Thankfully no chips for me this week … I shouldn’t have brought it up, so now I will need to eat something salty at some point today. (Thinly sliced beets broiled for a few minutes, add some salt … need to do that when I get home.)</p>
<p>Took my vitamins, drank my water, forgot to exercise. Not gaining but not losing; eating very healthy lunches and dinners so far. Need to do a better job of breakfast and snacks.</p>
<p>I’m going out to dinner with girl friends tonight and have been “saving calories” for my lamb biryani. If naan is ordered I will bring half my biryani home. :)</p>
<p>I worked out with my trainer today and have to say-- I don’t understand why MFP has no calorie bonus for strength training. (God knows she makes me sweat and brings my heart rate up.) I am rewarding myself with one IPA with dinner. (I did bike to the Y for a little calorie “bump”.)</p>
<p>In case any of you have a Whole Foods by you that you regularly use–just found out that mine has a $6.99 lb. special on Wednesday for their hot food and salad bar. If you’re shopping anyway and get hungry, it might be worth knowing.
Today I needed a quick lunch as I have a hair appt., so I went for the taco bar, loaded a carton with mixed greens, put on top a half-cup wonderfully seasoned ground beef, cheese, onions, cilantro, sour cream, and salsa. Yum! For low carb people, this was a pretty decent lunch- and about as close to “fast food” as you can get and still be healthful.
I’m down another pound. I’ve lost seven since Sept. 5th. Feeling great.</p>
<p>1moremom- enjoy that beer!</p>
<p>moonchild, that’s why I love Chipotle. You can have the same kind of thing there.</p>
<p>Yesterday I was feeling so dispirited that I drank two glasses of wine and didn’t exercise. Probably hit a whopping 1400 calories!</p>
<p>My friend who is using the other calorie counter and fitbit reported another 2 lb loss. I told him I seemed to be gaining, not losing. He laughed. He was lucky he was on the phone, and not within strangling distance! I was so dispirited I had a glass of wine. Still way under for calories today. </p>
<p>Now I’m off to the treadmill. Sigh.</p>
<p>Speaking of Whole Foods, someone sent me this today–
[Surviving</a> Whole Foods | Kelly MacLean](<a href=“HuffPost - Breaking News, U.S. and World News | HuffPost”>Surviving Whole Foods | HuffPost Entertainment)
I thought it was funny. </p>
<p>Thoroughly enjoyed my beer. (I have not forsaken all alcohol, just my 200 calorie IPA.) Saved half my biryani for dinner Friday, when DH will be away. (I told myself ahead of time that Friday dinner would consist of a salad and whatever I brought home tonight.)</p>
<p>I made the mistake of weighing myself today and was up almost two pounds from Monday, despite sticking with my plan. From now on, I will weigh once a week.</p>
<p>Down three yesterday, up one today – I think it might be because I ate some salty chips and brats yesterday. I’m not following any plan at the moment other than eating less and exercising a little more. So, there is room for improvement . . .</p>
<p>1moremom- saw the Whole Foods parody. Very cute, actually. MY Dd does have to be really careful because of yeast, so she might not think the “rich person’s disease” comment was very funny, but all in all… Hey, we have to laugh at ourselves or there’s not much point in living.</p>
<p>The biggest change in my eating plan is cutting out the flour, sugar and starches. It seems I can eat just about anything else if it doesn’t contain these things, and I still take off some pounds. If you were already doing this and just counting calories, I can see how it would be really hard to break through that initial plateau.
I’m making this change for my health rather than just my weight, because with BC, sugar is the devil. Also, I figure if I reduce my body fat, there’s less fat to manufacture estrogen (which my BC loves), so my medication has less work to do. 
It does feel strange to eat a cookie after two week of no flour/sugar. My hairdresser brought me a cup of tea and a small almond cookie while I was waiting for the color to process, and not having eaten sweets in two weeks, I looked at it suspiciously and actually considered not eating it at all, but I took a bite. It was yummy, but I didn’t feel a great need to finish it. ( I had just had my taco salad, which helped.) I ate 2/3rds of it, and left the rest. I think that’s the first time I’ve ever not finished a cookie in 62 years!</p>
<p>Day 4. I am staying on track. The best thing is I feel so much better. I am not experiencing that afternoon slump.</p>
<p>Good work mom60 and those of you committing to take actions to improve your health.</p>
<p>Don’t beat yourself up too much if you have a 2nd glass of wine, or finish that cookie. Just log it and know you have to do something to balance out.</p>
<p>Day 4, I am on track in 3 of 5 areas … vitamins, water, and no sugar snacks. My goal starting this weekend is to track everything (4) and formally start some exercise (5). I’m lower than my starting weight, but am not sure if that is luck or because I’m not gorging on the unmentionables (chips, ice cream, some candy).</p>
<p>I golfed 18 holes yesterday, and because I walked the course I’ll count that as exercise, but my left hamstring is showing signs of being out of shape, so that is motivating me to do more formal exercise throughout the week so I can avoid injury.</p>
<p>Steps forward - great job people!! </p>
<p>Snowflake - that’s a great way to do it - adding the various components in stages - if that is what works for you, then THAT’S the way to do it!!!</p>
<p>Doing okay considering I weight 3 pounds more on Tuesday than I had on Sunday, what was that about?! I’m up half a pound, as of today, but did walk every day despite having surgery on Monday. Can’t do any upperbody exercises which really screws up my normal routines.</p>
<p>I’ve been staying away from CC lately. I really did not eat well or exercise that great after I bought my wedding dress. I ate painfully well in the weeks leading up to it and I overtrained and I was exhausted and hungry. Just getting back to normal now. My weight is the same as its been since April… I am a little more bloated now than before shopping but I think it’s just water. I’ve really been noticing muscle definition just about all over, so I think I am teetering on the brink of breaking my plateau… Just veeeeery slowly. I think I am on my last 10lbs.</p>
<p>One thing I noticed while I was off track was how crappy I felt. I needed a break for a couple days, so I didn’t feel bad in terms of guilt, but my poor stomach hurt non-stop and I just didn’t feel as sharp as usual. It was nice to see evidence that I’ve really changed. My post-dress binge was not nearly as bad as how I used to be (and wasn’t even really a binge), and my mind, body, and soul could NOT tolerate it. I wanted to go back to eating well and committing to my workouts. I am a different person now. That must have happened when I wasn’t looking!</p>
<p>I’m easing back in, too. Weighed myself today and I’m down a pound since Monday. I have been eating better but haven’t given up the diet soda yet. Baby steps. Fortunately, I hadn’t gained back ALL of the weight I lost last year. Just a few pounds. I’ll get back there.</p>
<p>Exercise is on my agenda for next week. I hurt my lower back (again!) at work a few weeks ago and have been taking it easy. It’s getting better slowly but it’s not where it should be yet. Frustrating.</p>
<p>I’m feeling a little like Cosmo in The Contest episode on Seinfeld. “I’m out!”
Bad day in so many different ways. Tomorrow will be better.</p>
<p>Need help. I really dislike Mexican food (I detest beans), but a friend who is visiting tomorrow organized a dinner for us at a neighborhood Mexican restaurant. I would normally order chicken fajitas, but I’ll be down to 600 calories by dinner time.</p>
<p>No chips and salsa will be torture as that’s the only thing I really like in Mexican restaurants!!</p>
<p>Any ideas? I know corn tortillas (ick) are lower calories than flour.</p>
<p>Dieting is easier when MFP knows about the menu !</p>
<p>A lot of Mexican restaurants have meals on the menu that don’t involve the taco or burrito shell or beans. The one near us has a lot of shrimp dishes that are heavy on vegetables. If you can forego the rice, you might be okay.</p>
<p>So somebody please tell me that it’s impossible to gain 5 pounds in a day and half!!! I weighed myself on Friday morning and had lost a pound since our Monday morning weigh in. Went away for one night and yes, I ate poorly. Weighed myself this morning and was up 5 pounds!!! Is that even possible!!! I’m hoping it’s water retention or something!</p>
<p>Many Mexican restaurants have fish faijitas or something similar on the menu. Or shrimp, if you eat shrimp. Just ignore the wrappers (whether corn or flour tortillas) and eat the seafood & all the veggies it comes with! :)</p>
<p>And keep your hands out of the chip bowl! 
Maybe bring some carrot sticks so you’ll have SOMETHING to munch on while waiting.</p>
<p>Eptr- yes it is impossible. That is why I now weigh myself daily. Last Monday I weighed 157. By Friday I weighed 150.4. I didn’t lose 7 lbs. I lost the water and blot I get from white carbs and salty food. This morning I weighed 154. I know I didn’t gain 4 lbs since Friday. I did eat out on Friday and Saturday and again today. Today included chips and guacamole. Tomorrow I will be up again. Tomorrow I will again go back to no white carbs and lots of vegetables and protein. If I stick to just under 1200 calories I can hope my Friday weight will be below 150.
This is why I find it less frustrating to weigh myself daily. It also allows me to see how bread, pasta, sugar and salt play a huge role in my body weight.
What about a soft taco with chicken and don’t eat the tortilla. Skip the rice.</p>
<p>Ask them to bring your dish without beans, rice or tortillas. If you like fish that’s a good choice, but taco fillings should also be fine.</p>