I'm not sure I even remember what my dishes look like! I live alone and I can't get on my knees to access the bathtub (new knees), so I've just been eating out, hitting the fast food drive-through, and nuking the occasional frozen something. Hence the desperate need for SparkPeople! (Usually I do salad, but too frequently it's fries with something tasty but not really healthy.) Then McDonald's introduced its new hot fudge brownie sundae and that was the end of me!
I finally followed a trick I read about in an eating disorders article and forced myself to have a sundae every meal until I didn't crave them anymore. In fact, I can't think of anything I would like less. Unfortunately, I consumed a lot of calories before I reached my "enough" point. Ah, well. All we can do is try.
Cheers! Sarah
TREETOPS 7/10/06 10:37 P
Thanks for the pep talk, Sarah. That was a real "upper". I do tend to get depressed but I usually bounce back the next day. There is, however, nothing like a helping hand to cheer one up. I remember ten years ago when our kitchen was being redone. We lived on frozen dinners and used disposable paper plates and plastic knives and forks, etc. The few dishes we had to use I put in a dishpan and cleaned them in the bathtub while I was on my knees. It was so good to finally get the new kitchen and it was wonderful and worth the trouble. Good luck with yours. Kathy
SARAH1952 7/10/06 9:57 P
Hey, Treetops, don't be so hard on yourself! I just joined this weekend and my purpose is to think about what I eat and what exercise I am able to do in a constructive way instead of beating myself up all the time. I've been doing the food tracker thing and it is fascinating. I can't cook at the moment because I've been redoing my kitchen, so I'm more a hunter/gatherer. Using the meal planner has aleady made me more deliberate about what I gather for meals. Once I can cook, I plan to take advantage of recommended receipes--at least until I get a good start on this weight loss thing. I think it would simplify matters.
One idea: why don't you buy yourself a decent scale and weigh yourself in the morning before breakfast and without a stitch of clothing? Your scale won't necessarily be more accurate than the doctor's, but you will be able to measure progress on your own terms. This SparkPeople plan is great because you can record your weight online. And if you were more in control of the process, you might feel less hopeless.
It sounds like you are working on nutrition and weight for health reasons. Me, too. Right now I'm feeling optimistic because I am actually thinking about the whole thing, rather than trying to avoid the subject. So you should give yourself a lot of credit for doing likewise!
I can't fast, either. What might work for you to shrink your stomach a little would be 5 small meals rather than three bigger ones. You'd still be getting all the nutrition you need, but you'd also be training your stomach to feel full sooner. My challenge right now is to remember to eat three meals. I often forget to eat and then I'm exhausted (not hungry) so I eat sugary food for fast energy. Oddly enough, recording my meals on the tracker here is helping me remember to eat, too. I realize how much I've eaten so far and then plan the next nibble.
Good luck!
Sarah
TREETOPS 7/10/06 7:15 P
Oh dear, today is my weigh in day and I went up to 162 1/4. Yesterday I had hopes of losing a pound but it was not to be. Then I went to the doctor's office and the nurse weighed me without even giving me a chance to take off my shoes and sweater and of course I'd had breakfast and I weighed in at 5 lbs. more. Talk about depressing. I guess I'm going to have to figure out how to track my food on the tracker, because I'm not doing so well at home. I start off full of good resolutions and then fall by the wayside. I haven't exercised for almost a week because of sore knees so I guess that might play a part in my s l o w progress or lack of same. I know some people start off a diet with a fast to give them a quick start, but I don't want to do that. I don't feel good when I miss meals. Hope everyone else did better than I did. Kathy
