Hi. I've visited this thread a time or two, not quite sure whether to join in the discussion or not. Like postal, I would like to drop at least 50 pounds.

I have just retired from a desk job that involved long hours and little movement. Even getting back into walking is a challenge. A couple of friends have offered to walk with me once a week, but I need to motivate myself on the other days. I also need to get into a healthier eating cycle.

Your posts are a good source of inspiration. The idea of setting a first goal of 5 pounds by 15 February seems a good one.

Jane, you are amazing! What are you doing to lose weight?

pitegny> Welcome! Have you spoken to your doctor about starting an exercise program? I would suggest starting there, to make sure you don't hurt yourself. Walking is always a great way to start - you can walk at your own pace (as slow as you need to go), and it's free! Changing your eating habits is always the hardest, because we eat what we like. I hope you'll keep us updated on what you are doing and your progress.

I have already had a preliminary discussion with my doctor and will try to check in with him over the coming months.

My big problem is that I LOVE to cook. It is one of my passions. I am now looking for ways to make creative meals that are not too heavy on either fats or carbs. Recipes are always welcome.

Checking in from time to time will be a good incentive. I'm glad I found your thread.

Hi everyone, pitegny, I'm posting from the library. An exciting day out for me, HA.

I'm not counting pounds or inches on anything but a monthly doctor's visit. It's just too up and down in my case.

One thing I have done is speak to the other person who lives in my house, in my case my brother. He prepares most of our meals, and if he only cooks Hamburger Helper for instance, for every dinner, I'm not going to reach my goal.

I hung the gist of my plan on my diabetes. So, I can eat healthier, and portion control will be up to me.

pitegny, I'm willing to be your online exercise buddy. We can compare notes here or PM. In fact, I think comparing notes here is what this thread is all about!
When I went out for groceries Monday, I was too tired to do anything after I got home. But, even that small amount of exercise gave me a better outlook today.

So this is my Day 3.

Pitegny, There is another free online website that has LOTS of healthy recipes, and it includes nutrition info. It's http://www.sparkpeople.com/ - you have to create an account, and you have to deal with their ads, but it's FREE. Cooking your own meals is the best way to make sure you watch your calories, fat and sodium. They have a LOT of tools you can use (meal planners and such). I personally find their website a bit 'busy', but other really like it. You can find their recipes here: http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/home.asp

They have a "World Master Chef", a Licensed and Registered Dietician, and a Nutrition Expert with a degree in Dietetics on board.


Postal,

Hey, if using your diabetes as an excuse gets him to cook healthier foods, go for it! You'll get HIM eating healthier, too! YAY for your trip to the library! If, each day, you do a little bit more than you did yesterday, pretty soon you'll be zipping around the block.

SilverMoonsong, thanks for the recipe site. I will definitely check it out.

Postal, I would love to have an on-line exercise buddy. We can try it here and if it is too much for the other thread readers we can go PM. I am starting with baby steps this week - 15 minutes or about .75 miles today.

Having someone else cooking the meals would be hard. In my case, I cook about 80% of the meals. I am trying to eliminate the between meal snacking as a start and adding a salad to each meal. Living in France, there are not so many of the prepared meals, which helps.

You're right down the far end of France from me, pitegny, otherwise we could have been exercise partners ...

There are some simple things that can easily be incorporated into everyday life: swap butter for a low fat spread (et 'Bridelight' in France), 0% fat yoghurts and dairy products as opposed to the full fat version, when frying food spray the oil onto the pan using a pump-pressurised oil sprayer. 50 sprays = 1 tsp, which is enough for almost everything, and way healthier than the three or four soup spoons full I would have used otherwise, Rye bread (pain de seigle) is much more filling than regular bread for the equivalent caloric value... Keep fresh fruit around always for emergency snacking, and if in dire need of a soda go for a diet version (0 calories) (unless you don't want to consume artificiel sweetners).

I always have several portions of homemade soup in the freezer. This has become my 'fast food' for those days when I really don't want to cook. It has regularly saved me from heading out for pizza or Mc Donald's just because I couldn't be bothered cooking. I add a slice or two of ham or chicken and three high-fibre crackers, follow it with a yoghurt and a spoonful of jam, and you have a well balanced meal which will keep you ticking over until the next meal time.

The key to success (for me) though really lies in getting back onto the the straight and narrow immediately after a little (or big) slip up!

I couldn't agree more, if you have a bad day (or days!) get back on the "diet trail" as soon as possible

Thanks SilverMoonsong, it's not exactly a lie, and he could stand to take off a few pounds himself.

Our summer was so bad this year that for two months we sat in front of the A/c and just panted.

But now it's wonderful weather, and much too nice to sit around.

I ended up doing 4 hours of going back and forth in my car then short walks. It was not "exercise" but it did wear me out. I didn't rest on my laurals this time, I played "retrieve" with my dog for a good ten minutes when I got home to reward her for not tearing up the house while we were gone.

I'm going to be ready for my doctors visit to get a baseline weight, then I might tally along with you.

Thanks for the tips Santana and Jane. The frozen soup sounds like a good idea. I saw a recipe for baked apple rings that I am also going to try. Just apples and cinnamon.

Postal, it sounds like your dog gives you a good workout! Having an online buddy is a help. When I sign in to play a quiz it reminds me that I need to work in the physical exercise. 15 minutes of walking, .8 of mile today.

My goal is to be able to do an hour walk without killing myself by the end of the year.

Hello all, I'm back and after my first week I have lost 1 kg, I think that is 2.2 lbs

Hi Playmate. Congratulations. Keep up the good work! Hopefully I'll soon be following you on the downward trend.

Yesterday was a no-exercise day for me. I waited until the end of the afternoon to walk and we had an unexpected snowfall. I love snow, but only when I am inside in front of the fire. It melted by today, so I did another 15 minute walk. Definitely baby steps, but want to ease in to it gradually.

Hi everyone, I took a break yesterday too.
I've decided that sweeping or raking leaves would be good for the upper body. I have tons of leaves in my yard.

I think that just the moving part is important. Alternating the walking with something else will be more interesting.

So Sunday--rest day

Monday--15 min. walk

Tuesday--sweeping 15 min

Wednesday--walk

Thursday --sweep

Friday--walk

Since the duration is only 15 minutes, every day doesn't seem like too much. If I start having cramps, I plan to wait 15 minutes, then try again.

In Febuary I have a doctor's appointment
I'll tell my weight then.
I don't even own a home scale!

That's excellent progress, Playmate, and it's about the upper end of what you should aim for on a weekly basis. 500g-1kg but no more, as it'll only leave you frustrated.

Nice schedule, Postal!

Errmm, no change for me this week, I did no exercise, and I really need to get back to it. I can't wait till the clocks change again so I can walk every evening. My stationary bike is looking daggers at me every evening, but I just can't find the motivation to pump the pedals

Oh postal, 15 mins x day x 6 days = 95 minutes of activity, that's a whole hour and 35 mins over the week, definitely not to be sniffed at!

I've been having several days off as well, but on my way home from work on Thursday morning, I hit a deer. I'm fine, the car... not so much. She goes in to get fixed Monday morning, so I'll be missing several days next week as well. I DID go today, and got an hour of circuit training and lifting weights. I'm going to try and go again tomorrow since I have to drop the car off early Monday morning at the body shop, and they will have her for 4 days.

Poor deer and poor dear! Thank goodness you wern't hurt. I had a deer jump into my car as I drove, the window was closed, thank Goodness.
Not survivable for the deer, poor thing.

pitegny: how's your schedule going with the walking?

I may have to scale back to 10 minutes on the sweeping, seems my upper body likes to cramp more than my legs.

It helps to look at a leafless front porch, that's progress too.

So sorry to hear about the deer. What a terrible shock that must have been. We used to have to be careful about deer crossings around here, but there has so much construction in our area that we rarely see them anymore. It is lovely that several of you still have deer where you are.

Postal: The snow day apart, I am sticking to my walking schedule - 15 minutes per day, except for Mondays. One of my friends asked me to help her improve her English. On Mondays, we do an hour of lesson, have a salad lunch and then go for a 30-minute walk at a small nearby pond that has relatively flat trails. It was frozen over this week - a lovely visual reward for my efforts. Between the schedule with my friend and checking in here, I should stay on track.

I am also getting a lot of exercise cleaning out my study. The last few years at work involved really long days, plus a one hour commute each way and often doing work-related tasks at home. Consequently, I amassed piles of paper and other stuff in my room. My family even had our own equivalent of the Richter scale for it and I had reached the top. The room is slowly re-emerging and all that bending has been another form of good exercise.

A little slip up, as I put on a quarter of a pound this week! Ah well, it should show a good weight loss this coming week!

In my weigh-in today, I was half a pound down. Not much, but I have not yet started recording my intake or changing the content of my main meals. I cut back (not yet out) on the in-between meal snacks and got my husband to take the remaining Christmas chocolate to his office. So far I have also successfully ignored the two walnut pies he baked and has sitting in the kitchen. Fortunately they are walnut and not pecan, which have called more loudly to me.

It sounds to me like everyone is doing well.

Great idea to count de-cluttering as exercise, pitegny. Two birds with one stone solution.

So far no sore muscles for me and only a little bit of cramping. Raining here all day, so sweeping will be my exercise. I have a wrap around porch, so plenty of leaves there also. Covered, so the rain can't get me.

I'm starting tp look forward to my doctor's appointment, just to see if the scale reflects any of my efforts.

Doesn't just doing the exercise tend to cheer a person up? Fight that flab, fight that flab, yay!

The exercising is going well, but visions of chocolate are dancing in my head. Normally I crave salty foods, but this week I keep thinking about sweet treats. I found that a few dried cranberries help and have a fruit basket on the counter. Does anyone else have any low-fat, low-carb snack ideas?

I like to keep protein shakes and bars in the house. It fixes my craving for chocolate, and replaces one of my little meals. Keeping fruit is also good. Oranges, bananas, apples, just watch out for grapes. They are great, but higher in sugars.

I got my car back from the body shop today, so I was able to go to the gym. YAY!

Congratulations on being mobile again! You mentioned little meals. Do you have one bigger meal each day and two smaller ones? If so, is your main meal at midday or in the evening?

I actually eat 5-6 times a day. I'll have 2-3 *meals* with 2-3 *snacks*. My snacks can be something as simple as a protein shake or bar, or perhaps a piece of fruit. Bananas are a perfect snack for me. Because I tend to lean towards being hypoglycemic if I'm not careful, eating more often keeps my glucose level. If I start skipping meals, my glucose drops, and that's bad.

Also, my schedule is crazy. I work overnight, so my day is opposite from most people. My breakfast is usually around 6pm-ish. So for me, a mid-day meal is around 2-3am. I eat a good meal before work, then I have one of my protein bars as a snack in the middle of my shift, and then another good meal when I get home. If I go to the gym after work, I'll eat something again when I get home, otherwise I just have a salad or protein shake. How much I eat depends on how hard I workout that day.