That reminds me of the time when I was working in a factory and one of my friends who worked there also formed this plan for the two of us to lose weight together. We worked the late shift, 4 to midnight, so we took turns making dinners we'd share at work. Each of us tracked our daily calories, too, and I think we had a calorie limit for the dinner but I can't recall exactly what it was. We also shared recipes. We were both good cooks and that helped!

Looking back, I now don't believe either of us really needed to lose weight. We were in our very early twenties and the fashion was to be very thin.

We also both really liked to drink beer and eat potato chips, at a local bar. Somehow, though, we did manage to lose a few pounds.

Last night I made twice-baked potatoes. (Just for some cold weather heft!)

Kyla, Happy Hour Calories don't count.

Think I'll go shopping today for lots of high protein stuff and green veggies. That worked once before for me. I'll need to rethink our happy hour snacks and drinks also!!. I've got to lighten the weight that will be on my new hip (or hips)!!!

There are a couple of foods that add measurably to my weight well over and above anything else. Meaning, I know if I eat them, I will gain weight even if I change my other habits, etc. Ice cream is the worst. Don't know if that is the case for you where certain foods are more 'attracted' to your hips than others, Teri, but, if so, might try eliminating those, too.

Good luck, Teri!

My cousin whom I live with works for WeightWatchers and has for about 20 years or so, so of course she is very conscious about this stuff. However, my personal approach that I have evolved has as its foundation that I don't eat artificial stuff. I do make exceptions sometimes, and have my personal junk food allowances and favorites! but generally follow this guideline. So, no artifical colors, flavors, or sweeteners. I also do my best to eat whole foods. The Weight Watchers program seems to rely pretty heavily on artificial ingredients and processed foods, from what I can see. So it's interesting.

She's also a vegetarian. I am not but don't need to eat meat very often.

Anyway, for whatever reason I have slimmed down quite a lot over the past few years. I indulge in fats, too! I love my olive oil and butter. I eat sweets but not a whole lot. It may be my age (hormones) also, but I have no issues with weight at all these days.

I found that my friends that smoked cigarettes were all thinner than I. They could drink and eat anything and never gain weight, and me, I kept putting it on. The metabolism as you get older slows down and therefore burning off fat is more difficult. The good fats and bad fats confuse me as do the good cholesterol and bad cholesterol. I was happier when I was not filled with all the crap they tell you to read now.

I try to eat as many non processed foods as possible. The only things that I go light on are sugars and starch. I try to avoid trans fats and do use butter and olive oil. I have a cousin who is very thin and VEGAN. I can't do without ANY animal products at all (eggs, milk, butter and etc.)

I would have problems with a vegan diet too, Teri. And JB, I used to smoke and when I quit I did put on some pounds! but that's long ago.

I really think my body went through a big change at some point (and yeah it was right around that time of life, too.) I had some times when I didn't eat much at all, kind of spontaneous fasting, though intentional fasting is not something I've ever managed to do.

Anyway. I really do have the notion that staying away from additives and processed food as much as possible has a beneficial effect on weight balance as well as everything else. For one thing I never really binge out on anything, like I used to!

I've also been pushed in the direction of eating many very small meals all day to help relieve my reflux problem. When I do this and cut our all glutens, I definitely start losing weight and feel much better. There's just so much that I can sustain without relapsing after a couple of months.

lovemyhouse said:There are a couple of foods that add measurably to my weight well over and above anything else. Meaning, I know if I eat them, I will gain weight even if I change my other habits, etc. Ice cream is the worst. Don't know if that is the case for you where certain foods are more 'attracted' to your hips than others, Teri, but, if so, might try eliminating those, too.

I think for me it's almonds! But ice cream is probably a close second...

Diets: I've never had much luck with those... oh, well...

Teri, maybe you're just sort of working up to being able to simply eat that way for good?

Yeah, I don't especially like diets either. I'm much more in favor of learning what my body really wants (not appetite but what nourishment it wants) and trying to eat that way.

kylaluaz said:
Yeah, I don't especially like diets either. I'm much more in favor of learning what my body really wants (not appetite but what nourishment it wants) and trying to eat that way.

My problem right now is that I'm driven by wants that have nothing to do with nutrition...

Yeah...like queso... ... ...

Yeah. Those can be pretty powerful. I dunno, I just decided at some point to see if I could learn to feel the difference between those and what my body really wanted. And it helped to know that, sometimes, what seemed unhealthful craving was really a message about something I needed. The key was learning to feel it, not just think about what it was supposed to be. I made some progress but it was slow. It also helped that I knew people, one or two, who really did make that distinction, and had used that to move out of being at the effect of cravings.

Mmyumm, queso...

I think you're right, Kyla. We all need to pay more attention to our bodies and what they are telling us. I think for most of us the link between what our bodies need and what we crave gets broken at some point, and it's hard to rebuild it.

This thread has become my inspiration for the day!! Reminding me about all good things that I already know, but have chosen to ignore.

Catmint20906 said:Mmyumm, queso...

I think you're right, Kyla. We all need to pay more attention to our bodies and what they are telling us. I think for most of us the link between what our bodies need and what we crave gets broken at some point, and it's hard to rebuild it.

That's exactly what I concluded, that that connection had gotten broken but could be fixed! So it just takes time and paying attention, apparently.

Roses, thanks for saying that. I'm glad it's not just a downer! (I was worried a little that I was getting too serious here. )

@JB How are you? What are you cooking, now?

Made cold tomato sauce yesterday. Put a can of Basil/Rosemary/Garlic seasoned diced tomatoes, dried onion, lemon juice, olive oil, garlic powder, a couple of Santa Fe Grande peppers, and Vietnamese Chili-Garlic sauce in the blender. Fettuccine noodles rinsed in cold water to get to room temperature. We stay so warm for so much of the year that most everything I eat is cold or lukewarm, at best. Could have cut some fresh basil to put in, but was too lazy to walk outside and cut it.

I'm o.k. just trying to stay healthy in this stupid weather. It seems all I get done is changing clothing to fit the temperatures as they change several times a day and it is making me crazy.

I made green pea soup with a ham butt the other day and yesterday I found a package of McCormick mix for Italian Chicken, so I made that. Today I made chicken salad for lunch. My SIL and I went to get our glasses adjusted and we stopped at the Amish Market. Oh my, before I knew what was happening he had a cherry pie, angel food cake with lemon, sticky buns with almonds and he stands there with a really silly look on his face, like a little boy who has just been bad.
I bought some pepper cabbage ...I like that better than cabbage slaw because it lasts longer in the refrig...some of their smoked turkey and a baked chicken pot pie and some boiled chicken pot pie. The kids like the baked and that is too much crust for me, so I eat the boiled, if I am going to get calories I like the old fashioned big pot pie noodles. ...we like an easy Friday meal because my daughter usually goes to the grocery store Friday nights since her work schedule can include weekends some weeks. So I am not really cooking much. Just heating up. Time is coming for some good chili and hot soups.

Mmmmyumm, that Amish Market sounds really nice, JB!