Health and Fitness, July, 2010

[Indiana]

lucylee don't be so hard on yourself. Just keep taking a step at a time and you will get there.

I will give you some web sites with exchanges if you decide you want to count exchanges. So in the mean time just use the exhanges I gave you. There is a formula to use on each food group that helps figure out combination foods like pb crackers or granola bars. Also some packaged foods list exchanges under the calorie portion, restaurants will list exchanges like McDonalds.

You will do great with this. It will jsut a little while to get in the groove.

[Indiana]

Harmony I had a light go off.

Are you getting enough calories? If not your body is holding on to what it has.

Here is an easy formula to use. The results are very close to what "Harris Benedict" shows but it is an easier formula.

Weight * 10 = calories * activity (see next line) = total calories needed for goal weight

Activity (.2 sedentary - .375 light - .55 moderate - .725 heavy)

See if you are under the amount of calories needed for your target weight.

[Indiana]

One thing I noticed is how consistent ( or very very very close to consistent) everyone is on exercise.

Harmony your goal is very attainable. Don't give up.

lucylee and Harmony listen to what Harriet said above she is a very smart lady.

OKay it is exciting to see you are energized by the eating plan you are on.

[Indiana]

SHEM:

I do not like broccoli. And I haven't liked it since I was a little kid and my mother made me eat it. And I'm President of the United States and I'm not going to eat any more broccoli. - George Bush

[Harriet]

I was waiting on that SHEM!
A giggly one. One of the snapshot historic '90s moments.

Had forgotten to say to Emptynester that it's always a back and forth thing isn't it. And you hold onto the gains (losses?) you can, and grab those bootstraps again. What we were able to accomplish can't really be taken away from us. Because the point is health not numbers, and we're healthier because of the efforts we've made in the past. It was banked in a way. After a breather, we head back toward that high point and give ourselves deserved pats on the back all the way.

Both Kathryn and HRH have suggested slow stretching to me. I will talk to dr Wed. There is a video from T-Tapp I got as a freebie/bonus sometime but haven't ever even watched called "Super Slow". We'll see. Wonder what Smile would say about it - bet she knows it. Also dr wants me to do deep breathing.

For me, the produce section of the supermarket becomes priority now. This morning, a quarter of a cantaloupe and later for brunch, I have peaches and blueberries ready. HRH asks what I'm trying to avoid by not joining him in his grits and eggs, too. He says it's the grits that will make me well, lol. I tell him it's timing. I can eat fruit happily if I eat it on an empty stomach, but if I fool around and have heavy foods first, the fruit would feel awful on top of it later and ferment like a still , so I'd miss my chance.

Btw, Harmony, I know my answer to you was a little flippant and it took longer than 11 months to make your changes but I'm so darned proud of you I want you to see how cool it is you are in 10s. I own 10s too. I dust them and everything.

[Nancy]

I'm up & back from my walk today saw 3 deer.
When we were up river this weekend we saw mtn. sheep in 3 diff. places.
That was fun! After a weekend at the beach it was good for us to have
some down time and to focus on resting and re-hydrating.

[lucylee]

I own 10s too. I dust them and everything.

LOL, Harriet... except in my case, sadly, this I have to substitute 12s in this case. I remember 10s... vaguely... Right now, I would just love to be comfortable in the 12s again.

Indiana, I'm just afraid to even go into what I ate yesterday... but I don't know if I can manage all that counting/thinking for the exchanges! I have seen the exchanges on many packages -- "1 serving = 1 starch" etc... but now it seems nothing I eat has it on there!
Maybe I should just stick to total calories for awhile, and determine to leave out as many starches/sugars as possible. That is so obviously my downfall.

[Harmony]

Indiana, thanks for the formula, but I can't seem to make it work. I'm sure I'm doing something wrong.

Ideal weight 130 (will I ever get there) x 10 = 1300, ok I get that but how do I add in the activity level. Even at the sedentary rate, multiplying by 2 is 2600 calories. Or x .2 is 260 calories! LOL what am I doing wrong?

About what I'm really getting - I am so wanting to do this that I hesitate to eat, and when I do is not adequate, then I pick at too many of the wrong things. I've just lost the ability to "deal" with it all, the counting, chopping, etc., as I've seen before one has to put a lot of mental and physical effort into dieting. Not only the exercise, it is the planning, preparing, shopping, charting.

I truly do not see how you have kept this up for all those years. I had for a while made the mental change and didn't have to record everything. But along the way, those things I would fall back on got boring and I was not left with enough 'easy' things to eat that were diet-friendly.

The same thing happened the year I did WW. I got so incredibly bored with my foods that I allowed myself to eat. One thing I don't do is a lot of chemicals, artificial sweeteners I stay away from for several reasons. That limits choices. WW was all about those things, their recipes are full of them.

I know I will do better once the heat lets up, but that is a couple months away. Lucy, I think you and I have a stress component to factor in. Food is tranquilizing. Akkk!

[lucylee]

Harmony... so true... food IS tranquilizing, and rewarding... you think (or at least, I know I think): I've had a hard day, I'll have this candy bar. I am so exhausted, I'll have some ice cream. I have been sooo good, I'll have some cookies.
And then everybody else is eating, so you think, "Oh, I'll go ahead and have this brownie walnut sundae at Steak and Shake b/c I can't really get into the dieting routine till all those mini wheats are out of the house, anyway."

Yes... that was how my night ended last night, Indiana. Might as well admit it.

And that stupid thing is worth about 800 calories!!! THAT is something I have learned today. * sheesh *

So. Yesterday's eating, as best I can recall:

Diet Dr. Pepper
PB crackers
Banana

Flavored water -- I think 2 bottles, but might have been only 1
8 Triscuits
2 slices low-fat cheese
Granola bar
A few grapes
Diet Pepsi

Frozen quesadilla, Friday's brand
Pkg of "combos" -- pizzeria flavor
Diet Dr. Pepper

Steak & Shake double steak burger, ketchup & mustard
Small order fries
Diet cherry coke
and yes...
Brownie walnut sundae

[Indiana]

Harmony you are doing it right the second time.

Add the 1300 calories plus the 360 activity calories is 1660 calories. So say 1600 to 1700 calories per day.

It does take work in the beginning but eventually is just comes easy. I can figure it in my head and be within 100 to 200 calories at the end of the day when I eat enough food.

lucylee starches seem to be the food you go to. How about just counting the exchanges for those. Try for a week to stay close to 6. Don't worry about being extremly accurate you are just working on getting your starches down.

Examples: egg mcmuffin is 2 starch 1 starch for each english muffin half, the pb crackers are 1 1/2 starch but you could count either one or 2 right now, granola bars are 2 starch 1 starch for each bar, a sandwich or hamburger or bbq is 2 starch 1 for each half of bun, cereal is 1 1/2 to 2 per cup.

To get you started on lowering starches it may not make it so hard. Instead of grabbing for a starch how about a fruit or veggies. Some of the starches I listed yesterday were higher because other things can count toward a starch = don't worry about that right now.

So I would just count how many starch you have each day. One starch is 80 calories.