<p>^^^ Love your screen name!</p>
<p>abasket, I agree that it’s crucial to have something frozen in a smoothie. I buy frozen strawberries, peaches, raspberries, mango and use a couple of them, partially frozen, with a fresh banana. I’ve also found that adding chia seeds (put a tablespoon in container, cover with water, wait a few minutes until it starts to turn to gel) actually improves the smoothies.</p>
<p>Last night I made the caprese salad posted by Marilyn. It was delicious! Many thanks.</p>
<p>Tonight I made a very simple salad that everyone likes. Trader Joe’s sells bagged arugula (either wild or organic, I forget which). I wash and dry it, and dress it with almond oil and a little white balsamic vinegar and fresh pepper. Everyone eats a huge pile of it.</p>
<p>The rest of the dinner was disappointing. I made Trader Joe’s organic brown rice fusilli. I didn’t have a lot of it, and I ate only about half a cup, cooked. This is about 1/4 of what I consider a normal portion. MyPlate was calling it 2 servings, 400 calories! I don’t see any way it could be that much. I ended up counting 1 serving, 200 calories. I had it with my favorite pasta sauce (Trader Joe’s organic marinara with mushrooms) and 4 Trader Joe’s turkey meatballs (someone on the other thread was talking about them and I was reminded that I had a bag in the freezer). The meatballs were kind of sweet, and I saw that they contain HFCS. And 4 meatballs was 2 servings (according to MyPlate), and 200 calories. So I’m slightly over my calorie allowance (by 30) and at 53%carbs/15% protein. Not one of my better days. </p>
<p>On the bright side, I had 2 cups of arugula - 12 calories!</p>
<p>Yes, the meatballs have a little HFCS but the nutrition component including fiber outweigh the HFCS for me.</p>
<p>Today was a very different day for me, too. I see where the extra fat ealy in the day made me feel fuller. I finally remembered to add pecans to my oatmeal, and it really made a difference both in terms of taste and satisfaction and at lunch had less protein and a caesar salad. Of course, tonight I decided to have pasta so my carb % is just as it usually is: 56%</p>
<p>NYMom, I love that arugula: I mix it with salad greens (1:1) and use it as the base for my dinner salads (said greens, sliced purple onions, chopped tomato, red bell peppers, avocado, cucumber, shredded carrots, hardboiled eggs and some sort of meat). TJ’s rice vinegar mixed with olive oil makes a nice dressing (sometimes I use only vinegar).</p>
<p>For dinner tonight I’m thinking something simple, maybe fake sushi from Costco. And a glass of French red wine to toast my good friends’ achievement: their compound got a preliminary nod from the FDA!</p>
<p>Back down to where I was before I went to see family. It’s nice to see that one week of concerted effort can offset one bad week.</p>
<p>Down 1.5 pounds from last week. Yeah!</p>
<p>I’m down some weight or inches even after eating all those cheese cakes. I think it’s important to recognize what one should eat and shouldn’t because it’s easier to maintain weight in the long term. I need to exercise to tone my stomach up. Doesn’t matter how many inches I’ve lost, when it’s not firm it looks like fat.</p>
<p>I stopped reading this out of guilt for not adhering to good eating but I got back “on the wagon” this week and now I’m back. Just want to say that the best thing for me in losing weight is fruit; there are so many amazing different kinds of fruits out this time of year and I probably eat so many melons, berries, plums, peaches, etc. that it satisfies all my cravings. I actually keep bowls of berries and cut melons on the counter to nibble instead of junk food, it’s working and I’m loving it!</p>
<p>I haven’t owned a weight scale in a decade. I think it’s time to buy one!
Water! I feel best when I’m drinking consistently. I always try to have a bottle of water with me wherever I go. I’ve also started to prep lettuce and salad fixings so all I need to do is grab what I need from the fridge. I chopped up veggies yesterday for the next 3 days. Inconvenience kept me from eating healthy and feeling my family healthy foods. Summer is the best time to get on board!</p>
<p>Some good news from the measuring tape and not-so-good news from the scale. My weight is stuck where it’s been for the past 3 weeks, down 5 pounds from the start 4 or 5 weeks ago. The total weight loss is fine; my plan was to lose no more than 1 pound a week. But the weight fell off (too) rapidly at first and now is stuck.</p>
<p>On the other hand, my waist is down at least 1", maybe 1.5", from my first measurement 2 weeks ago. </p>
<p>The one thing I have not managed to do yet is start exercising regularly. I’ll have to focus on that this week and, if my weight still doesn’t budge, I’ll have to tweak the eating plan.</p>
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<p>Check out Dual Survival on Discovery Channel. One guy is ex-military, the other guy is a hippie/barefoot walking guy. I saw one episode where they were dropped in a desert and expected to get back to civilization. Very interesting contrast between the two.</p>
<p>Typical exchange: “Look at these neat berries. Lots of carbs that we need for energy.” “Meat…I need meat.” [Hippie guy catches a rabbit in a homemade trap and we see ex-military guy happily skinning the rabbit.]</p>
<p>Hunter/gatherer indeed.</p>
<p>[Dual</a> Survival : Discovery Channel](<a href=“http://dsc.discovery.com/tv/dual-survival/]Dual”>http://dsc.discovery.com/tv/dual-survival/)</p>
<p>Don’t seem to be losing inches, but am down a couple of pounds. I’ve really tried to get a 40 minute walk in every day (that I’m not playing tennis).</p>
<p>One of the problems that I’ve come across is eating out. I like to eat out with friends, but am leery of doing so since I’ve become calorie conscious. So yesterday, I spent some time online trying to figure out the best things to order when I go out.</p>
<p>I now have a go to list for Chili’s, Rubio’s and Boudin SF!</p>
<p>The correct answer was “bulemia”. Good guesses, though.</p>
<p>I’ve found that after relatively rapid weight loss that I have plateaus that can last as long as 2 weeks. I have Livestrong set for 1 pound a week loss, but since I usually go over on the weekends, actual weight loss has been closer to 1 pound every 2 weeks. My goal is to eat about what I’m eating now and see where that gets me in terms of weight. I think I may slowly drift down to what I’d like to weigh in a couple of years. According to Livestrong if I ever get there, I can actually eat more than I am eating now. Hope that’s true!</p>
<p>Funny - if those 5 pounds had come off at a steady rate, I’d be thrilled. But because they came off quickly and then stalled, I’m not so thrilled. </p>
<p>I know what I have to tweak. I can see that, even though I’m eating quite well and staying within my calorie allowance most days, I am still eating too many carbs and not enough protein. Tonight for dinner I had homemade vegetable soup (on MyPlate I count it as weight-watchers zero point soup plus 1/4 cup of kidney beans, rather than typing in all the vegetables) with a T of shaved Parmesan. Then I wanted a peach. I had in front of me two choices - the peach or plain shrimp with cocktail sauce. I wanted the peach and had no desire for the shrimp. Ate the peach, and saw that my carbs for the day were up to 60% and protein 15%; was still well under the calorie limit so I ate the shrimp as well. Still under the calorie limit by over 100 calories, almost 500 calories if I count the 1-hour walk I did this evening. So my profile is a bit better.</p>
<p>I have to find a way to eat more protein, even though I don’t want it.</p>
<p>Well. I lost the 1.5 lbs that I gained on vacation! I’m very happy about that!</p>
<p>Just like me, EPTR! Congrats!</p>
<p>My anniversary was yesterday. Took a diet break.
Will resume next week…</p>
<p>Thanks, Youdon’tsay!</p>
<p>Congratulations, Jym! Did you try your wedding dress on? lol.</p>