Originally Posted By mele It wasn't until recently that we had Tortilla Soup on so many menus here in WA state, either. I'd never had it until last year. One of my high school friends has lived in England for about a decade now. She has been frustrated with the foods she cannot get, too. Another one of her friends from high school lived in the UK for awhile and was able to get US food from a military base (?) for her. I think we're so spoiled here. We've got so many different kinds of markets and upscale grocery stores. It's pretty easy to get whatever we're looking for. I would be pretty screwed if I lived in the UK...at least grocery wise. ;-)
Originally Posted By mele You know, Dave, it's truly amazing how you've been able to lose so much weight while being away from home so much. That's nearly an impossible feat but you've done it. Congrats!
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo Today it was Tasha. Alarm went off at 5am, took 4 hours to do an 80 min journey (ice, snow and everything else was aweful). I missed an important meeting and only got halfway there. then got on the phone to see if it was worth walking 4 miles to my meeting or braving the underground (lot's of breakdowns from the freak weather). At noon, I finally broke down and had that budger with my coffee. And it tasted good! Bad me. But I am kind of used to it. I have worked on the road for 13 years now, but living in restaurants and hotels, long hours with no time for exercise, meant I lost the battle on weight. When I met my wife, I was a fat 260 lbs. At my worst last year I was a monstrous 370 odd. After being told I am prediabetic and my blood pressure meds I was on seem to not be working, I had a wake up call (September 11th 2009). I have since lost 70 lbs through - walking, no/low sugars (including carbs), not eating after 7pm (except over Christmas and New Year), smaller portions. But I am aiming to get to 230lbs. 2009 was a horrid year for health, lay offs, young deaths in the family and so much more. But my wife and kids are everything, and I would like to see my grand kids one day. So, I am on a mission.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo It's not too bad mele, for many Americans, they do not realise some things simply have different names. I found on our last trip to the US, there is actually much less choice in the US stores now than over here (especially when it comes to bread, cheese, asian ingredients etc.) But indigenous produce to North America, and some specialised ingredients are hard to come by.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo Lol Mele. I have a higher target too, and now it is creeping down. It is hard.
Originally Posted By tashajilek "kids are everything, and I would like to see my grand kids one day. So, I am on a mission." Im sure you are everything to them to Dave. You are aware of what you need to do and i have no doubt you will get there. 70lbs is excellent and im sure you can feel a world of diffrence on your body already. My brother is currently over 300lbs and he got there from long hours and a stressful job and my step dad had a stroke at work from stress. Dont let your job kill you, you need time to enjoy life and sometimes work isnt worth it. Good luck Dave i know you will continue to lose more weight, and you will live to be the best grandpa.
Originally Posted By mele I finally viewed my weight as a real handicap. Not in that I needed special rights or anything, but as something that I would always have to deal with and had to change my life accordingly. I will always battle my weight. If I had any other physical handicap, I would have to adjust. I would have to work harder to my life what I want it to be. I see my issue in this way now. I will always have to work at it. I wouldn't give up walking if I had a leg amputated; I would adjust and re-learn how to walk with a prosthetic limb. This is no different. Also, realizing that it's my life and no one else is going to fix it, has made a difference in my life. Sometimes you just gotta carve out the happiness you want, fake it till you make it. None of these thoughts went through my head while pounding cookies last month, however. ;-)
Originally Posted By tashajilek Mele have you ever tried OA, phone meetings, or talking to a sponsor? I believe that for some people food is a addiction like any and sometimes we need help dealing with it. The lady that i work for does OA phone meetings where people from all over the world call in a discuss their success, problems etc. Its really helpful for her to hear others with the same problems.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo Lol mele. Ya, I used to think it was who I am. I did try weight watchers and other things and they rarely worked. It wasn't until I treated the issue as if I were a drug addict or a smoker that I got a handle. And really, I am still not that good yet, but I am getting there. When I started my latest role, I would do the 2 mile walk between the station and the hospital, and it would hurt, and my breathing was off, I was a real mess. Now, I don't think of it much. What was also bad was my darling wife would spoil me by doing stuff for me when I wasn't working or working from home because 16 hour days are tiring. But now, although she still does to a degree, I will now be more inclined to take a lunch break when I work from home and go down stairs (whereas she might bring my lunch up stairs to the office in the past). I know this sounds terrible, but we needed to change. Also, I have tricked myself into loving water and herbal tea.
Originally Posted By mele I'm not an overeater, tasha, nor do I feel like I am battling an addiction. I do love food, but my love of food has been what has helped me the most. (Well, actually consistent exercise, too.) I wouldn't know what to say or do in an OA meeting. I just meant that I am not one of the lucky people in this world who can eat whatever they want w/o a weight problem. I have to pay attention to what I eat because of my body type. I can up my metabolism, of course, but that is something I have to take charge of. It is my "handicap" in life, my "challenge" if you will. It's a pretty simple equation, eat healthier food, eat smaller portions, move more. There's no trick to it. Yes, it's more work but, in life, some people are given more challenges than other people. Just because it isn't always an easy thing to do is not an excuse not to do it.
Originally Posted By tashajilek No it not easy thats for sure. I am the same as you i have to watch everything i eat to sometime you do and sometimes you dont. Have fun on your trip i hope you will be able to d-stess and relax.
Originally Posted By mele Thanks! I'm worried about making it to my trip. I don't leave till Feb. 19th. Just trying not to let stress eat me alive before then. I found out that the cruise line serves Cooking Light fare in some of the restaurants. Looking forward to checking that out! ;-)
Originally Posted By mele It's a music cruise, meaning there are different bands/musicians who travel along with us. About 30 of my friends are going. We're traveling to Mexico and Belize. It's only a 5 day cruise this time around. (Last year it was 7 days.)
Originally Posted By Tandelothien mele and davewasbaloo, I know exactly what you guys mean about treating my weight like a life adjustment although it never fully sunk in until I weighed myself this week. I knew logically I had to make a change for the rest of my life but I think in the back of my head I was just waiting to get down to my goal weight so I could eat all the bad things again :S After this last trip and the holidays, when I put back on in 4 weeks what it had taken me 7-8 weeks to loose, I realized that if I go back to my old ways I will undo all my hard work in half the time it took to achieve my goal One tip I have - beans are your friend Baked beans, black beans, lentils, chick peas, they are all really low fat and high in protein and you can use them with smaller portions of meat or alone to make stews, soups, burger patties or just about anything.
Originally Posted By Tinkeroon <<the donut probably won't taste nearly as good as you think it will. I'm amazed at how subpar most junk food is. We think about it endlessly and finally eat it and...meh. Unfortunately, homemade, real food usually tastes pretty awesome and that is why I packed away a lot of cookies last month. ;-) (I must admit, however, that they still made me feel gross. I just ignored the gross feeling and ate them anyway. How pathetic is that?)>> How true this is Mele!!! Everytime I cave and have that cookie or piece of candy, etc... I think "Wow, that was soo not worth it!" but the next time...there I go again! And you just can't beat homemade! But once you've eaten it...you realize it just didn't make you feel good at all. Although, with your own homemade recipes you can at least watch what you put into it and how much. You don't have all those chemical additives that are so bad for you. Dave, you are doing a remarkable job! And for all the right reasons. You can do it long term...I know you can. Find all those ways to keep active...like going downstairs to get your lunch. It's often those little things that become our downfall because we can make excuses for them. I try to use stairs when I can (instead of an elevator or escalator) for instance. There are lots of things we can do. We have so many conveniences now like cordless phones and remote controls, that we don't have to move much once we plop ourselves down. Thus becoming couch potatoes. And it just gets easier and easier to sit there. So whatever you can do to keep moving is a good thing.
Originally Posted By Tinkeroon Oh, and Tandelothien, I agree with you about the beans! About 5 or 6 years ago I lost over 50 lbs. and beans were a huge help for me!
Originally Posted By Tandelothien ^^Not to mention cheap, so they lighten the shopping budget as well, lol. And about the couch potato thing, I've noticed a lot of new TV's etc hide the channel changing buttons so it's almost like they're forcing you to use the remote.
Originally Posted By tashajilek Wow mele sounds like fun. Belize is a really beautiful country you will have a blast on the cruise.
