sharing info and a great site

First the site FITDAY is a wonderful place! It is free to join and there you can keep a log of each days food intake. They have a great calorie finder for foods or you can create custom foods. They also have activities listed so you can keep a log of how many calories you burn each day. I recommend this site to anyone trying to lose weight or even those who just like to keep track of these things. There are many more things you can do there. My daughter told me about it and I use it daily now.

Besides keeping daily logs of my food and activities, I have also begun doing several things I never did before. Like making a weekly menu and a list for shopping based on that menu. It has been fun looking through cookbooks for new things to try. My very favorite cookbook is one of hers. 1001 Low Fat Vegetarian Recipes. It is available on Amazon for a very reasonable price and again, if you want to change your eating habits I recommend this cookbook. Now I'm not saying you should all become vegetarians, but if you substitue a few vegetarian meals a week to your usual menus it would surely benefit you.

Anyone that is interested in becoming a vegetarian may want to check out this site TRYVEG
It is full of great stuff, including How to transition in 3 steps, and you can get a free vegetarian starter guide there too.

I have also become a label reader when shopping. I hunt up the low or non fat versions of what I need, and always compare calories, fat, sodium etc on the brands I find and buy the lowest ones.

Because at this time I am not able to walk well or do aerobics, which I loved to do when I was healthier, I plan on beginning to do some very light toning work with TONING CORDS, and am going to try out Richard Simmon's SIT TIGHT workout, which is specifically for people who are ether in wheelchairs or who can't work out the traditional way. Both of these items are available for reasonable prices on Amazon . BTW, I am NOT affiliated with Amazon! I just shop there often lol. I am determined to begin working out so will use these until I get a bit more in shape.

• Until you can eyeball amounts, measure and weigh food! Very important! What you THINK might be a cup of rice could be THREE!
• Get creative with salads and have one with supper every night. Not only will it fill you up but it is good for you too!
  
• If you feel hungry, have a drink and wait awhile before eating. You may find the hunger has gone away because you were actually thirsty.
• Use a smaller plate, it will *fool* you into thinking you are eating the same amount of food as usual because it will still be full. If you don't have one, consider buying a special plate just for your use. You are doing something good for yourself so you deserve to enjoy the whole eating experience. In fact, why not have your drink in a wine glass? Make every meal special!
  
• Get rid of the TV tray, don't eat standing in the kitchen, put the book away until you're done eating. In other words, sit and concentrate on your meal. Chew slowly and savor every bite. I used to read during every meal, my plate would be empty and I didn't even realize what I was eating because I was so engrossed in my book, this often led to a second helping because I ate so fast I just didn't know I was full. BIG mistake.
• Don't avoid your favorite foods! For instance, my son's birthday was yesterday, he always gets a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and chocolate ice cream. (can you tell he loves chocolate? LOL) This is one of MY weaknesses. So I decided to change it up a bit so I could indulge, reduced sugar frosting and non fat frozen yogurt helped reduce the calories a LOT. So did my serving size, instead of a huge slice with a pile of ice cream, I had a slice that was about 1/2" thick and 1/2 cup of frozen yogurt, which I ate slowly and thoroughly enjoyed. I'm sure you can find recipes or low fat versions of just about every thing now. If you try to avoid foods you love, you will give up on your diet quickly. Just remember, smaller, healthier versions :-) and NOT every day! Make it a special treat.
• Have 6 small meals a day instead of 3, this will help you because you will be eating all day and won't have that starving feeling. Now by meals, I mean the 3 regular meals and 3 snacks, maybe a piece of cheese and some grapes? A non fat yogurt and fruit? Just watch the calories and plan it ahead of time. No impulse eating!
  

That's it for today, but would like to add that if you are just starting the weight loss journey yourself, remember that you didn't get to the weight you are at overnight, and it won't go away overnight either. It will take time and effort on your part, but it doesn't have to be painful! I hope some of what I have shared here today helps you get started, if you haven't already, or helps you if you have.

I would love to have folks leave comments and maybe join me in this effort to get healthy. If enough folks are interested maybe we could start a support group of sorts. It might make this kind of fun!

As a final thought...did you know that if you get 8 hours of sleep a night, not only will you wake up refreshed but you will burn 545 calories. That is at least one whole meal gone!