Everyday Systems

Hello, everyone!

I am new to this thread, but discovered this website about 1 year ago. 2 years ago, I lost 35 pounds. I lost it by eating 3 meals a day and cutting down on portions. When I found this site, I realized that the motto is very similar to how I lost weight....no snacks, no seconds. I did, however, allow myself sweets, but in moderation.

I'm a quantity eater, so smaller portions and not binging were key factors in my weight loss journey. For a long time, I also kept a journal of what I ate everyday. No counting, just writing down my menus. This helped as well.

Since the loss, I gained back 5 pounds. And although it's a relatively small change, it's driving me crazy and I want to lose this extra padding NOW

Anyway, the idea of journaling, eating 3 meals a day and exercising will surely get back into the habit of practicing a healthy lifestyle.

So on that note, I will journal here.

Any advice, words of encouragement or just a simple "hello" is greatly appreciated!!

Happy losing, everyone!

Hi Dasha,

Hello to you! Keeping a journal has been helpful to me.

Wow, 125 lbs. That's pretty much my ideal weight. I've got about 20 to go!

Good luck to you.

--H

Hi Hexagon! Thanks for the encouragement!

well, here we go....

breakfast: protein bar; coffee w/creamer and sweet'n'low
lunch: amy's organic burrito; corn nuts; apple
dinner: Kashi forzen dinner; large pear

i feel good about my choices and most importantly, didn't binge.

SUCCESS!

Hi Dasha, welcome! With your previous experience and current enthusiasm, I am predicting success, not only for reaching your goal, but for maintaining, too.

Thank you Jan!

Weight loss for me, and probably for many people here, is an uphill battle. I'm not sure if it will ever get easy.

I'm a binge eater. When I'm in "binge mode", I eat everything under the sun. When I was younger, I restricted my calories and yo yo dieted a lot. So I think my body and mind started to fight back and reject any sort of restrictions I was applying on them. The more I restricted, the more I binged and the more I gained.

Eventually, I just said, "Enough is enough." I started eating 3 meals a day and not counting any calories. The hardest part of this type of plan is actually accepting the freedom, as weird as that sounds. And having patience. The weight came off VERY slowly (.5 pound to 1 pound per week).

Anyway, I guess the point is moderation. In the end, I understanding that being a binge eater is kind of like being an alcoholic. It's very much a black/white thought process. Either you're dieting perfectly or you're binging perfectly. It's very hard to teach yourself to have "just a little." You keep wanting it ALL. It's a catch-22, really. Once you give in to the temptation it's a feeling of short lived freedom, that ends tragically.....with guilt, tears and self-abuse. And so the cycle continues.

So, on that note, I'll stop blabbing.

Welcome, Dasha! A lot of people tell me that No-s is just a more explicit or slightly different formulation of what they'd done successfully in the past.

I do think it will get easy for you eventually, but it's a matter of months and years. That might seem like a long time now, but not when you consider how many more easy years and decades (hopefully) will come after.

Best wishes,

Reinhard