Most of the machines ask for your weight, but I still don’t think they are close to accurate. I love cashews, but it doesn’t take very many of them to add up to major calories.
@mathmom …yeah, but I lost some crazy weight last year while eating cashews pretty much daily. I would say probably 500 calories worth daily even though I never counted calories.
Lucky you! 
@mathmom …I didn’t meant that to sound annoying!! I think by cutting out all processed foods and sugar, it changed my metabolism somehow. Foods with high fat content did not add any weight at all and actually helped me lose more weight. When I counted calories overall I could NOT lose weight. When I dropped the processed foods…the weight came off.
Seriously. I know that sounded annoying and I’m sorry.
@jym626, I do eat nuts. I measure out my portion and eat them very, very slowly.
I also will eat a tablespoonful of peanut butter with an apple or banana. Again, I do measure it as I was being way too lenient with my p.b. consumption before I started tracking.
Or, if you’ve got a good leeway with the daily intake p.b. with whole wheat crackers…always satisfying.
A nice yogurt (as low cal as you can manage) is always a good snack.
I love cheese and grapes as a snack.
A slice of deli meat wrapped in lettuce with a smidge of dressing if you like or a slice of roasted red pepper.
@carachel2 - not annoying! I think you may be on to something that if you really cut the empty carbs and sugar you can eat more fatty food. I actually don’t think it’s all about calories.
Thanks everyone, and congrats to @carachel2 and @mom60. I have dry roasted unsalted peanuts int he house, which I like to eat with raisins, but portion control is the challenge. I will look into cashews. Thanks. I will probably hit trader joes today. I buy their english peas and eat them raw. Very sweet and yummy. Try it! Costco is a bit out of the way today.
Apologies for any greater than normal # of typos (and that would be a LOT) but I am sitting at the computer pedaling away on the stationery pedal thing I have under the desk. Its pretty basic, with a timer and resistance setting that doesn’t seem to have much resistance, but I’ve been at it for about a half hour while I pay bills. Will go do a real workout in a little while.
Has anyone tried Mealenders? I don’t want to sound like a commercial but they are helping me break the triggers and cravings. I saw the ad on Facebook and read the reviews; didn’t see anything potentially negative so I ordered 3 different favors. Each candy is 15 calories. It starts with a soft coating and has a hard inner core. The inner core leaves a tingling like toothpaste. ONE of my problems is turning off my triggers for eating. Even if I am not actually hungry, I want to eat something. Before I eat anything now I ask myself if I am really hungry or if I am eating because I am bored, stressed, etc. If I am not hungry, I open a Mealender. So far, they seem to be working; I have given up my late evening boredom eating. The biggest downside is the expense; they are not cheap but they are a lot cheaper than the hypnotist that I was considering to help me break the habit of emotional eating.
No exercise this week aside from my normal all steps in everyday life. I’m doing well on eating but haven’t stepped on the scale. I’m trying to avoid bloat causing food since I want to look nice in my dress.
Snacks- I eat unsalted almonds, walnuts or cashews. I count out the serving before eating and put the bag away. Last week the grocery store had Diamond brand 100 calorie raw almond packs on sale. I bought a box and put them in my car. A hard boiled egg, piece of string cheese. 1/2 container of yogurt with goji berries and walnuts. Small Apple if I’m on my way out the door. I also sometimes eat a few bites of leftover chicken dipped in hummus.
Indulging snacks- 1/3 of a large dark chocolate bar. A few dark chocolate covered pistachios, almonds or cashews. The key is to not eat out of the container but to count out serving and put rest away.
My indulgence this week was dark chocolate covered almonds. They were too yummy!
Another Zumba class done!
I went to lunch yesterday with a dear old friend and she couldn’t get over how good I am looking. Still beaming from her compliments. It really is inspiring for someone to notice.
Way to go @VaBluebird!
Go @mom60!
Not familiar with mealenders, @lotsofquests - will explore.
At least I can say I’m not gaining weight, but my bowling game sadly did not improve. I’m reaching inward to find the place that allowed me lose a pound a week when I started following this thread. I’ve kept some of the habits but not enough. I’m definitely getting more exercise!
I read an article in Time magazine about the importance of nutrition and diet in preventing and managing Diabetes II. I knew all of this but it was a good reminder. My life has been so much more complex in the last year or two because of the big move and losing my mom, so I sometime forget to prioritize what I’m eating.
I used to snack on nuts but (1) figured out I get a rash on my neck if I eat them in quantity, especially almonds and (2) pretty much avoid larger nuts and popcorn after my bout of diverticulitis a couple of years ago. Sometimes I snack on dry cereal, like Cheerios especially. I also like the big airy crunchy snacks like this: http://www.fritolay.com/snacks/product-page/chesters-snacks/chesters-puffcorn-butter-flavored-corn-snacks I try to remember to have some kind of protein when I eat carbs.
I get tiny chocolate yummies and try to eat just one or two, like Trader Joe’s little dark chocolate mint cremes. 28 calories each but they give such an intense rich bite that you don’t feel a need to eat a ton.
I usually like the mini fun size York peppermint patties . 50 cal. I am on cool down in the treadmill. 3.2 mi. 42 min.
Update: cool down almost done. 2 min left and distance is currently 3.4 mi. My DH is on the treadmill next to me, and looked over at my stats. Immediately he said ( something I already knew) “you just did a 5k” and he’s pushing me to do one he helps organize on Memorial Day. It’s not on my radar.
Final stats: 3:45 mi - 51 min
Are you running, @Jym626? Good for you. How did you build your endurance up to be able to run a 5k? I’m not overweight for my height but I’d love to build strength and endurance.
No, no, no. Mixture of walk and run, walk and run. That averages out to about a 13- 14 min mile pace. I don’t run for more than 3 min. straight at most (and its usually more like 1.5 to 2) before slowing it down to a walk. Next I’ll try to increase how long I can run before stopping to walk.
Just broke the cardinal rule of “don’t go shopping hungry”. A loaf of fresh artisan ciabatta bread jumped into the cart with all the healthy stuff. But with my coupons it was free.
Pistachios are supposed to be very good for you. It is best if you can find the unsalted ones in the shell.
A single serving of 30 pistachios is about 100 calories and can keep your stomach full for two hours.
I bought cashews, but darned if a slice of chocolate covered banana from Sprouts didnt jump into my mouth instead.
Took a complete diet and exercise holiday this weekend. Tomorrow is another day (with deference to Scarlett O’Hara).
As long as you don’t get so hungry that you start eating raw carrots right out of the ground. Although that might be part of a forage diet, come to think of it.