Time for me to start eating healthy.

[enyawd72]

Just ate my last pepperoni roll and drank my last Pepsi. I'm sitting here at my desk...feeling stuffed and with no energy, just like every afternoon, and I've had it.
I'm turning 41 in a couple weeks, and it's time for me to get back in shape. I used to unload trucks for a living and was a 265 lb mountain of muscle, but for the last 10 years I've had a sit down office job that slowly stripped away all that and replaced it with fat. I'm 320 lbs and have been for at least six years. I don't look it because I'm 6 foor 4, but I know i'm considered obese. I have a tenth of the energy I used to.

Luckily I don't smoke or drink, so my health hasn't been affected too badly yet, but I fear I'm on the path to diabetes if I don't change. I'm stocking up on fresh fruits and veggies, cutting out all sweets, especially pop, and limiting my bread and meat intake. No more Little Debbies cakes and cookies. No more grease and salt laden pizza. I already know this is gonna be tough, but I know I can do it. Wish me luck!

[Random Axe]

Diabetes is no joke. However, I cured mine with my no sugar lifestyle. Go ahead and eat whatever meats you want, it's valuable protein you really can't make up for unless you consume protein shakes daily. Two weeks just eliminate all those sweets and Little Debbies. Don't cheat evena little bit. There is no way you don't see and feel immediate results. After like three days for me I noticed my energy level increase and my thinking was much more clear. Breads are fine, just make everything whole wheat. Lay off the taters and pasta, though. Two weeks to a new life, dude. That's not much of a sacrifice for your next 30 years...

[enyawd72]

^Thanks for the encouragement bud!

[Hedji]

Good luck to you! If you mean it, and you really follow through, you will love life and love yourself for it. I dropped a bunch of weight about two years ago when I was diagnosed with high cholesterol. It really is a new life, and I'd never go back. I figured I can either be here another 20 years or another 40. I choose 40.

You'll be surprised how much you won't miss soda. Go for the carbonated water if you need that soft drink fix.

Eat lots and lots of salad. Try steel cut oatmeal in the morning, with some egg whites. Fills you up and does the trick.

Good luck!

[Mikey]

Cool,

To help, give yourself treats now and then

Example, one day a week could be Little Debbie dessert night.

Same with Pasta Night

Doing this makes a diet bearable and longer lasting

[megoapesnut]

You'll be amazed how much you lose your taste for bad stuff when you stop eating it. I haven't had any fast food or any fried foods for exactly a year now. My son had french fries the other day and the smell just made me wanna puke. Oh, and I almost forgot about this. About 6 months into my diet, there were a few chocolate chip cookies on the table and I thought "what the heck, a cookie won't kill me". I took one bite and had to spit it out. It tasted like I was pouring raw sugar in my mouth.

[spacecaps]

You'll be amazed how much you lose your taste for bad stuff when you stop eating it. I haven't had any fast food or any fried foods for exactly a year now. My son had french fries the other day and the smell just made me wanna puke. Oh, and I almost forgot about this. About 6 months into my diet, there were a few chocolate chip cookies on the table and I thought "what the heck, a cookie won't kill me". I took one bite and had to spit it out. It tasted like I was pouring raw sugar in my mouth.

Exactly. After not eating that stuff after a while, when you do eat it, it doesn't taste right. Fast Food tastes processed. Candy and Cake taste too sweet. Now I was never "fat" to begin with but I broke my foot and spent the better part of 2011 laid up on the couch or on crutches. In ten moths of laying around I gained 23 pounds. After I could walk with out a cast or a cain, I started eating right which for me meant a ton of fruit and veggies....no candy or fast-food, and no more soda or processed fruit juice. The soda for me was the hardest to give up but yeah after about two weeks or so you notice a difference in energy. After about a month or so you notice a physical change. The other thing I do is run. A lot. 3-5 miles every other or every couple of days. Eating right is only the half of it. Exercise is the other half but you gotta find what works best for you and don't let anyone try to tell you your doing it wrong. What I always say to that is anything is better than what I was doing before...which was nothing. Another good tip is find a fruit or vegetable that you like. You can pretty much eat as much of them as you want. Watermelon is a great filler and since it's mostly water, full of nutrients and little else. Carrots, pickles, and string beans are also great snack foods too. Another tip would be to watch what you drink because beverages usually get over looked. One thing I did was switch to non-fat milk (it does take some getting used to) in my coffee and I stopped using granulated sugar entirely. If you can't do something like coffee or tea without sugar, look into getting some German Rock sugar. It does have a higher calorie content than regular white sugar but you'll find your using a lot less than with white sugar. Above all else though is to stick with it. No matter how difficult it may seem at first, it gets easier over time. Don't think of what your doing as a diet, think of it as a lifestyle change.

[megomania]

Cool,

To help, give yourself treats now and then

Example, one day a week could be Little Debbie dessert night.

Same with Pasta Night

Doing this makes a diet bearable and longer lasting

Exactly.

Went in for my physical yesterday and told my doc about giving up sweets - his suggestion: eat Dark Chocolate bars if you want a sweet fix. Don't punish yourself or make it miserable. And for snacking, he said you can't go wrong with nuts - peanuts, cashews, almonds, etc. are all good fats. And raw veggies.

But great for you for making a resolution - I turned 41 in Dec and while I only need to lose 10-15 lbs it's been hard. But I gave up sweets (except now for dark choc) and beer. If I drink, I'm having vodka & soda.

-Chris

[Random Axe]

For me I needed it to be hard and difficult. I didn't have any cheat days or treats for myself. I wanted to remind myself of how bad I'd gotten and how tough the journey was so I'd appreciate it more when I got to the end. It was like food boot camp, cold turkey on all that bad stuff. And, I haven't looked back and regret nothing. I still eat what I like, so it's not that bad. Here's what I'm having for dinner right now(cool recipie):

Two wheat tortillas, four slices of colby, four slices of crispy bacon, grilled chicken and some shredded cheese. Roll them up and cook in the wave for a minute to get it all melty and then dip into your sauce of choice(mine's bbq). Lots of protein, little no sugar.

[megomania]

For me I needed it to be hard and difficult. I didn't have any cheat days or treats for myself. I wanted to remind myself of how bad I'd gotten and how tough the journey was so I'd appreciate it more when I got to the end. It was like food boot camp, cold turkey on all that bad stuff. And, I haven't looked back and regret nothing. I still eat what I like, so it's not that bad. Here's what I'm having for dinner right now(cool recipie):

Two wheat tortillas, four slices of colby, four slices of crispy bacon, grilled chicken and some shredded cheese. Roll them up and cook in the wave for a minute to get it all melty and then dip into your sauce of choice(mine's bbq). Lots of protein, little no sugar.

Now that sounds GOOD

-Chris

[enyawd72]

Well,

I just got back from the store...tonight I'm having turkey breast and sweet corn on the cob. Ditched all the soda for orange juice and iced tea with real sugar. (I'm mixing my tea half sweet/half unsweet). Threw out the Fruity Pebbles and Cocoa Puffs, replaced 'em with Quaker oatmeal and raisins. Bought some peanut butter, chunk cheese and whole wheat crackers. also some seedless grapes if I feel like a sweet snack and cashews. It was the healthiest cartful of groceries I've ever bought.

I already feel better and I haven't even started yet!

[wayne foundation 07]

Don't throw out the cereal, take them to the lake and feed the sea gulls! Pick up the phone I'm gonna give you a call.

[theantiquetiger]

I started eating healthy this year as well and exercising. If you like salad, check out "Walden Farms". They make salad dressings, mayo, peanut butter, and other stuff with zero calorie, zero fat, and zero sugars. The salad dressing are amazing. The mayos are very good. My wife made me chicken salad that was very low in calories and fat. A sandwich with 4oz of chicken salad has 188 calories, 2 grams of fat, and 2 grams of sugar. I got the peanut butter today. It does have a slight "diet food" taste to it, but it was very good on celery. They have a website with a store locator on it to show you where to find it in your area.

[HardyGirl]

Great! When I got high blood pressure a couple of years ago, I stopped drinking sodas, and only eat sweets on weekends, and even then very little. Good luck!