I can't understand what my fuckin' problem is!  Drink 6-8 glasses of water a day - DO IT!!!!

I carry a water bottle around all day.  

I haven't had fast food in a week.  that's HUGE for me.  I'm writing down what I eat.  hopefully that helps cos I don't want to write down 'big mac'.

what I hate is not feeling any in the moment reward for doing well.  it's like chiseling away at mount rushmore.  you're inside Lincoln's nostril and can't see shit.  plus all there is is that nostril, nothing else yet.  I mean, yeah, eventually when half his face is done you can pull back and see something, but not for the longest time.

the only thing I see is that my fucking boobs are smaller.  oh YAY. 

LOL Elsa

I can't stop drinking diet soft drinks! Why?! Why can't I stop drinking diet soft drinks? They have no nutrition whatsoever, they don't make me feel better. Hell they are probably killing me.

I will probably not make it to bed tonight without getting one some way some how. It's pathetic! 

Okay,,, and some success, I walked 40 minutes today.  Gym rat for years, all the sudden I can't get off my ass and this has got to change!!

artificial sweeteners (by rat study) confuse the brain's caloric sensors.  rats who had artificial sweetener afterward ate more calories than those that had regular sweetener.  they don't know if it's a chemical effect or if it's a biological balance of the brain taking in more food to balance a perceived low-calorie deficit.  anyway, those diet drinks muddle a brain.  

Tam, I've had two reg. cokes today...and I really try not to drink it at all.  It's so god(*#&(#*&$ hot and I'm so exhausted....I feel like it's the only think that will keep me going.  I won't touch diet though after reading an email that was circulating on how bad the articifical sweetners are.  So I might be scaring you off (if that's a good thing) but switching back to reg. isn't really the solution here. 

 today I was really feeling like SHIT about my weight that won't budge...and all my bad habits......  The thought even crossed my mind of starting a thread .... and then...ta da, Elsa magic.   

 .....stuck in the nostril....only a pisces satori....lol....;-)

I mostly drink water, I don't do soda (only with pizza though, you can't have a pizza without some soda). I love coffee, but the way I like it *lots of creamer and sugar* causes me to hardly ever allow myself to have some.  If I was not disciplined I'd have coffee everyday....which leaves me wishing that I wasn't disciplined. 

I bought a book a few months ago called "Skinny Bitch" by Rory Freedman, it gives a lot of great info on artificial sweetners, dairy food, meats, etc....she suggests becoming a vegan which is something I cannot do because I'm a Texas girl and I love my bar-b-que brisket too much!  But it definitely made me more conscious about what I put in my mouth.  In the very least throw out your refined sugar and buy Sugar in the Raw!!

Speaking of soda, when I was in high school I was addicted to Pepsi's at one point.  I remember waking up and needing to feel the burn in my throat.  I'd go downstairs at 5 a.m. and drink a Pepsi before doing ANYTHING!  Ewww.

Shell, I bought the same book last winter!  It's still by my bed...along with the Ultrasimple Diet book.  I don't know, my willpower has gone down the drain as of late.  But both books motivated me for a few days....and at least bring abt more of a consciousness as I make bad choices. 

I tried the cabbage soup diet a few years back and dropped a pant size (water weight) in a few days.  But it made me feel weak so I went off it.  Still, it got me going.  I'm thinking about making a big pot of gazpacho soup and living off that for a day or two...something about whatever the combination in cabbage soup that is too drastic for me (enzymes in the cabbage, I think).

I think that last eclipse (right on my moon) messed up my stomach. Or I have a tapeworm. I have been eating sooo much, which is very unusual for me.

I cannot resist coffee and sugar.  I can be quite good unless I'm stressed or its the week before my period and then it is just game over - the stupid thing is - it stresses me out even more but I STILL DO IT!!!

I don't really believe in dieting, I think it just messes up your metabolism and creates the need to eat fewer and fewer calories.  I really believe in exercise & sports - all kinds.  Exercise is the key to a happy life! (Which doesn't mean I don't drop off doing it -but I am notably less happy when I do.)

I like beer (!) and have had to cut back the amount I drink as I'm in menopause and have a thickening waist.  Cutting back hasn't done anything yet to reduce it, but I have faith! 

Moderate dieting is good, ala watch what you eat etc. Crash diets are really, really, really, really bad, as at most you're only losing water that your body could actually use and when you start eating regularly again, your body is making MORE fatty reserves as it thinks that it'll starve AGAIN after that meal. So, crash diets make you FATTER in the long run.

So instead of doing those, take the food that you eat in a day, remove the heavy meats (pork, beef), sugary based products, fried food etc. Take the food that's left and spread it throughout the day, so instead of having two meals, you have five or six meals.

And instead of drinking 6 liters of water per day, substitute some of that water with fruits and veggies. Your body really doesn't need THAT much water, except if you're persperating like crazy and it will be thankful for the vitamins and minerals that fruits and veggies provide that water doesn't.

I did that and after a month or so I had no craving for sugar at all, well, the simple sugars atleast. Those are the devils you want to look after.

But yea, I have trouble getting rid of the fat on my lower abs (this is a rant thread, afterall, right? :D)

I have a terrible soda habit.  Lately I've been making kombucha tea (anybody know about that?) and love it since it has a bit of fizz but it's also got great probiotics.  Trying to keep green or white iced tea in the house for my daughter instead of soda. 

Today I'm trying to decide on an insurance plan probably because of that Saturn in the first house in my solar return chart.  I need to take care of myself and dammit no one else will help me unless I make them do it.  John can add me to his insurance but he would have let the deadline pass if I hadn't brought it up.  DO NOT LIKE this!  Insurance companies are evil but I need basic healthcare.  

Danger zone! It is 3:45 PM, the time I usually cash in my diet for the day.

But not today!  Today is the day I will not eat 7000 calories worth of nuts just because I( can't have ice cream!!!!!!!

I had Jack in the Box last night.

WTF IS WRONG WITH ME?

I started running three weeks ago, and this week I've been too exhausted--i think it's a Pluto thing for me.

'WTF IS WRONG WITH ME?"

yeah, that's how I feel. 'Cept it's been going on for MONTHS, one day leads to another...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzymBKGV8rw

I like that video, it is from back when people wore clothes when they sang. ::smirks::

Not really about "diet" but dietary changes yes--

I started juicing -- although haven't yet started juicing greens. I get annoyed because various friends of mine think juicing is bad for whatever and various reasons but I know my body is happier for it. Is that saturn in virgo? Everyone thinks they are the expert of everyone else's body--

I always feel it's so individual.
And I know my body so well, am sensitive to so many ingredients

And I too am trying to lay off the diet sodas. Caffeine makes me crazy anxious so I rarely have it - decaf green tea. Gosh I sound really boring. Also recently quit smoking cigarettes which I miss so so so so so so much. How I love my cigarettes. Only quit because I had the flu for 2 weeks and the cough wouldn't go away. It scared me.

And this is what I make in the blender these days:

-1 banana
-2 good tablespoons of almond butter
-soy or rice milk
-honey or agave to sweeten mmmm

Good to make and have some, let chill overnight and have rest for breakfast.

moonpluto--I have some of that agave syrup but I havn't had the balls to use it yet.  Is it okay?  It smells kinda funny to me, lol.

Juicing is awesome!

Try this one for breakfast:

- Banana
- 1 cup of fresh apple juice
- Yoghurt
- Couple of table spoons of Sport Müsli
- 1 table spoon of honey

leave it over night for the müsli to soak up a bit.

I don't get it!

Elsa, you said you used to be a gym rat, but now you don't feel like going anymore.

I just don't get it!

I wish I had a ice cold diet Dr. Pepper!

Toni - in part that is true, but also Vid is out of school and this is an impediment.

I had that surgery for 3 hernias - could not work out for an extended period and have never come back all the way since.

In theory, you're right back up. In reality..

it just goes to show you, don't ever get cocky! I am a 10 years habit gym goer and before that I also went (break to have my children)

Elsa,

I see!

Shell, I just got it for the first time. Can't even remember why. It shouldn't smell funny. It's just sweet stuff that I got instead of honey one day and I had read that it was low on the glycemic index -- but not sure if that's true.

My rule is : if it tastes funny, don't eat it!

Too bad we all don't live in the same state, country, etc. We could have a really awesome tea party or dessert party or dinner party or whatever :). And then go to the gym!

NO desserts moonpluto!!! at least, no sugar desserts...sheesh. i'm trying to quit eating the crap around here. /*grumbles to herself while resolving to stop buying the brand of carb bars she eats compulsively until they are gone and mutters something about saturn being a son-of-a-bitch */

I just have to say that I am always amused by Libra Mars apologizing for swearing but still doing it. 

Shell, I have a friend who swears by that agave nectar.  I've had some vegan cupcakes she made with it and they were awesome.

Lupa - who me?

I note the swearing (warn) to appease HQ. This is a deal we struck some months (years?) ago.

I did make it through the day with out a NUT accident though. Do you know how many honey encrusted pecans I have eaten in the last week? Someone dumped a load of them in my local grocery and... and the rest is history.

goddess - I eat those low carb bars by the 6 pack tooooo. I know not to buy this stuff, DAMN

Oh yeah that is probably wise on HQ's part.  I still thinks it's funny and polite but I'm glad you swear anyway. 

 And I hate dieting.  I always gain weight if I try too hard.  I have to try just a tiny bit so I don't trigger the famine response in my brain.  I think it's genetic from my dust bowl era Oklahoma born grandmother.  

You know, Women's Health Mag has excellent healthier recipes:

http://www.womenshealthmag.com/nutrition/recipes

And satori...if you ever get tired of writing it down, have you heard of spark people? that's where I'm recording how much I eat, and it helps me:

sparkpeople.com

One thing I like about using online records is that if I eat about 1800 calories one day, I know how to ration the rest of the week to average out at what I need to eat for weight loss...it makes things a lot more laid back...so if you guys are stressed out, remembering that it's a weekly average thing could help. And that your metabolism needs to be "spiked" once in a while anyway (from what I've read in a few places).

This site is also great: hussmanfitness.org...

I've been trying to do it once and for all lately with my "last 20,"and I'm using these sites above mostly.

And it was really sad to add that Jack in the Box to my list of eaten foods for hte day lol...

Yes it is frustrating, when I was younger it just fell off now, uhhh not so much!!  I bought a box of See's candy Monday and I just threw it out there was only 5 pieces left,lol. oink oink.  It is weird when I work out like a fiend the weight doesn't go anywhere, when I take time off I seem to shrink a bit , I don't get it. blahhhh

Okay goddess no desserts - how about a big fruit bowl. These days, sugar free is easy but oh sugar substitutes are awful, they give me stomach aches.

I can't diet. It always feels like self-hatred to me. I can try to be healthy and add things in that are healthy. But when I'm out and about in the nyc it's hard to resist buying a treat. I'm okay with just one treat though... per day...

morning all..lunchtime here...had a fistful of roasted almonds as I logged in, then saw Elsa's picture and put em down ( for now ::looking sideways and wondering has Elsa P got spies in here::)  for the first time in my life been lacking in motivation to lose winter weight. The thing is that we've all had a winter resp virus here that has you craving carbos as you get better, and the virus keeps comng back, so that could be an excuse, but I guess the short answer is I should use my mouth for something other than stufffing food in ( suggestions unnecessary here)..who's for a round robin slimming society singsong?

 Satori I am an aspartame evangelist..thankyou for your info... I recall reading a later stifled report on the possible effects of that substance.. reason I read it is that especially severe over menopause( I had menopause age 48) I had an extreme hemiplaegic migraine reaction to anything containing that ( and double blind tests were carried out on me without me knowing).. it was 100% clear what was causing it. Put me out of action for days at a time, my daughter and niece also have this reaction.

Now I know others who are likewise affected.. these diet products are so so baaaad. 

Moonpluto I sympathise with those sensitivities of yours..  so want to insert Jilly's brilliant Applause picture here from the Double Whammy thread for Shell to say to you well done, well done on stopping smoking regardless of the reason..Me n my Hubby stopped the same day on a Saturn Neptune aspect, June 25th 1989..without planning or even mentioning it to anyone or each other.. We never looked back, nor did several others who strangely, we later discovered, did the same that day.. spooky eh!

 Now I don't feel like eating those nuts, thanks friends .. but have you ever thought that there might be something in our closets that's stealthily shrinking our clothes?  Don't be too quick to beat yourselves up, things aren't always what they seem...just off to change into a looser outfit...

thanks Lynn. I am looking back though -- I miss my smokey treats. So so so addictive. Shortly before I quit I remember reading how slow drags relax and quick drags speed you up.... So I was taking these long slow inhales ahhh. Disgusting, eh?

For a while I was only smoking 1-3 cigarettes a day and even that is gone now...

elsa- my husband eats the carb bars for breakfast. i'm fine if i don't get the kind i really like, but i've been getting the kind i like and that's all she wrote. i will literally go through a box of 6 in less than 24 hours.

i also end up with some junk food for my daughter, who loves it and no longer has weight issues. but there are some things i simply refuse to buy for her just because i don't do well at keeping out of them.

for those tracking, in addition to sparkpeople, lots of folks like fitday - they have a free version.

moonpluto - fruit is fine, thank you! :)

for sweeterners, i like liquid splenda (sweetzfree)-not the pourable kind, fiberfit (from netrition.com), and Erythritol for baking - sugar alcohol that doesn't raise blood sugars or have the gastrointestinal side effects of most sugar alcohols).

i did take a walk this morning, though. :)