Encouraging healthy choices -support thread

[Meagan]

Short walk this morning. DS 2 woke early so there was no easy way to get out the door for a proper stint. Better than nothing  ok day for food. Had a friend over and made biscuits which were really a challenge to resist!! I did do a fruit plate too which helped. Ok for the rest of the day.

DS 1 starts kindy tomorrow so I am a little nervous about that of course.

[Chelsea (Thermie Groupie)]

Good luck tomorrow Meagan.  Our eldest starts Kinder in 2 weeks. 

My leg is almost completely better so I am back to power walking each morning.  I am celebrating reaching my first goal today - losing 5kg.  Hooray! I was going to try to loose 7kg, but I am pretty happy with 5kg for now.  I am now wearing all of my smaller sized clothes that until recently lived in a box in the top of my wardrobe.  I'm still not a skinny-minny by any stretch of the imagination but am back wearing mainly size 12's so that is fine with me.

I now have the difficult task of maintaining my weight.  I know that my power walking is limited to the warmer weather (which is a bit scarce in Tassie) and I need to find something indoors for the winter months ahead.  I also know that baking too much will cause me to come unstuck.  I baked a cake yesterday with the boys (our first cake in weeks) and really struggled to limit myself to one reasonable slice.  I sent the remaining 2/3 of the cake to work with DH today so that I didn't pick at it all day.  I am not overly tempted by basic biscuits and slices so I will stick to those in the future and limit cakes and desserts to once a week (perhaps fortnight) or on special occasions. 

[Katya]

Well done on your weight loss Chelsea - 5 kg is a terrific amount to lose. 

I am a bit of a fair-weather walker so last year bought a Wii Fit machine and I have been trying to do half an hour on it at least 3 times a week over the winter.    It's quite good fun to use and it monitors your progress.

[joynatalie]

Funnily enough, I have just been thinking much the same thing myself the last couple of days.  My husband has slightly elevated cholesterol levels and we are both overweight.  All those lovely sweet things on this forum have been fabulous, and I've loved experimenting with them, but not so good for us and I love my husband more than sweet things, so I've got to reform.

I'm a vegetarian and my husband calls himself a "vegetarian by marriage" so I would really love to see some great, healthy heart type vegetarian recipes or suggestions.

I would love to lose weight am also a vege but live with carnivores!!

[Meagan]

Bike ride with DS1 this morning. My knees are sore  DH reckons it is just my body getting used to exercising again!! All the same they hurt. Pretty good food wise today although I have been making jam and have had a fair bit of tasting this afternoon/evening.

Slightly off topic DS1 started kindy today and I was so proud  he was great and didn't get upset at all!

[judydawn]

Meagan, you might have a bit of arthritis in your knees.  I tried riding a bike to keep fit a few years ago and after the first few times my knees played up to the point it was impossible to ride far at all so that was the end of my trying to keep fit that way.

I may not have gotten involved with this thread but I have been keeping an eye on what you girls are up to here.  It's got to the stage where I feel guilty because I am not dieting or exercising and whereas I don't have a lot of time to look after myself, I realise I cannot look after others if I am not fit and healthy myself.   I will therefore try and do something, however small, to boost my energy levels a little - even if it means walking around the back yard. If only it wasn't so darn hot. Maybe that will help me sleep better too - I did try to have an early tonight but after a couple of hour's sleep here I am, wide awake and on the forum 

[Katya]

Poor Judy - I'm sorry to hear you're not sleeping because of the heat but at least you're making good use of your time by coming on here.     It's bitterly cold outside at the moment (a biting wind) but I think I'd rather have that than your heat.

Please don't feel guilty about not dieting or exercising - each person is different and has different demands on their time, energy and resources and you probably use up a lot of calories looking after DH and chasing after grandchildren so don't be hard on yourself.   

Look after yourself, that's the most important thing 

[cookie1]

Judy at a certain age as long as everything is working ok and we're reasonably healthy I think our body shape isn't quite so important. We just need to eat healthily. I find that my middle is expanding-it's driving me mad. No weight gain just an expansion around the middle. I guess it's called middle aged spread.

Meagan how were you at Kindy? I'm so pleased your son went well. It's very hard for the Mums if their child is upset, but believe me they really do settle after a bit and enjoy their day.

[Meagan]

Meagan how were you at Kindy? I'm so pleased your son went well. It's very hard for the Mums if their child is upset, but believe me they really do settle after a bit and enjoy their day.

I did all my crying thinking about it and in the lead up rather than on the day cookie thank goodness!! I am such a 'cry at the drop of a hat' sort of person. I was surprised at how strong I was 

As for today, ds2 had croup over night and that meant not such a great sleep for me. So no exercise, feel like I have been snacking all day  and those biscuits I made a few days ago have been my downfall today  anyway can't change much now just need to pick up and start right with dinner tonight!

[versaceyoyo]

I have just finished reading "Why we get fat and what you can do about it" by a science journo named Gary Taubes.  This book is an idiots guide to his larger book (600+ pages) called "Good Calories, Bad Calories".  His central thesis is that we have been brain-washed into believing the best diet is high carb and low fat and THIS is what has made us fat.  I suppose his ideas can be seen as controversial given most dieticians and health professionals would advocate this type of diet, however, the evidence that he presents to support his argument is almost overwhelming. 

In short what makes us fat is carbohydrates (which drive up insulin levels) which in turn causes the body to store fat.  And when he says carbs, he means all carbs - including whole grains and fruit.  If you want to lose weight he says you need to cut this stuff out of your diet and eat protein, fats and vegetables. 

Has anyone tried this?  I'm sure there are some who have tried a low/no carb diet out there - how did it work for you?

And BTW there is very strong scientific evidence to show that exercise does not help people lose weight - the only real way to lose weight is through diet modification.  That's not to say you shouldn't exercise of course, as there are many good reasons to, but if you are doing it purely because you think it will help you lose weight think again (says Taubes).  The other thing he points out is that it is extremely difficult for overweight people to actually exercise because there energy levels are so low. 

[Chelsea (Thermie Groupie)]

That sounds like an interesting read.  It really is hard though to know what to eat to be healthy these days.  Every book seems to recommend something different and be able to back it up with studies and evidence.  The one thing that never seems to be discouraged in diets is veggies.  I have been eating veggie based lunches and dinners the whole time I have been loosing weight.  I don't think you can go wrong with a good mixture of veggies in your diet.  They are far more nutritious than fruit - especially good old cabbage and sprouts. 

[Katya]

Someone just sent me this link which I thought people might find helpful....

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/you/article-1352558/Core-Balance-Diet-20-simple-ways-lose-stubborn-extra-weight.html

[rainbow]

Thanks for that Katya, some great tips, we do know them but often forget, I especially think of no. 14 chew slowly and wait 20 mins to see if you really need extra food.

[Meagan]

Well I am struggling with motivation and have done 3/7 this week with exercise. Food is going well but I am still opening the fridge door on a regular basis looking for something to eat when I shouldn't be!!! Although I am not always eating something at the time so that is a step forward. Just struggling with sore knees and lower back. Kids aren't sleeping well either which doesn't help!! Speaking of sleep I must get some...........

[sue_h]

Keep it up Meagan. We all have our down days and if we give in, it's even more of a struggle. At least thats what I had to tell myself at 4:45 when I had to meet my friend for a walk this morning. My healthy eating went out the window with TC Yasi. No power for a while, away from home helping out. The food offered was white bread with cold meats and sweet biscuits. I just wasn't organised enough to pack my own snacks. Now we have power and it's time to get back on track. I found that not having my regular breakfast smoothie really put me on the poor food choices track for the rest day. Yesterday was much better as I started with a smoothie and made good food choices throughout the day.