What Works For You?

[nikki c 16]

I get BAD afternoon munchies. I'm still early stage (banded 6/27) so my head hunger issues are still alive and kicking. My best aversion to afternoon eating is hot tea. I make a big cup (prob 12oz) with some splenda and mint and sip it for an hour. I keeps my hands and mouth busy and hot liquids are comforting. HTH! GL!

[Melissannde 41]

* Weigh & measure all meals eaten at home (3oz Protein, 1/2 cup veggies).

* wait 20 minutes after eating.. if still hungry, I can have another serving veggies.. provided no sauce, cheese, etc.

* Only 3 meals a day...unless awake an extended period of time, then may have a 4th meal.

* High Protein, low cal Snacks only if truly hungry between meals. Drink Water first to see if thirst is masquerading as hunger.

* drink 20 oz of Water immediately before meals, and nothing during or after meals.. at least for 30 min., preferably for an hour.

* exercise 5 or 6 days a week, minimum of 90 minutes. (when I started it was only walking..as I get more in shape, I increase the intensity of the exercise).

* As little processed foods as possible.

* no rice, no bread, no Pasta, no potatoes, very little corn.

* Lean meats (I strive for 90/10.. 85/15 is the highest fat I will buy). Not all ground turkey is lean.. surprise!

* Avoid HFCS like the plague (high fructose corn syrup).. read labels, it's in everything!

* No fried foods. Oven fried is allowed though.

* minimum of 64 oz of water a day. Most days I'm at 80 or above.

*journal my food intake

*attend support group (online or in person or both)

*try to keep trigger foods out of the house, or at least out of sight (have a cabinet for my DS's and DH's treats).

There might be more, but this is all I can think of right now.

[Debora Anne 3]

WOW great weight loss! Congrats to you - When you say excercise 5-6 days a week a minimum of 90minutes are you saying 90 minutes each day you excercise or total in the 5-6days??

* Weigh & measure all meals eaten at home (3oz Protein, 1/2 cup veggies).

* wait 20 minutes after eating.. if still hungry, I can have another serving veggies.. provided no sauce, cheese, etc.

* Only 3 meals a day...unless awake an extended period of time, then may have a 4th meal.

* High Protein, low cal Snacks only if truly hungry between meals. Drink Water first to see if thirst is masquerading as hunger.

* drink 20 oz of Water immediately before meals, and nothing during or after meals.. at least for 30 min., preferably for an hour.

* exercise 5 or 6 days a week, minimum of 90 minutes. (when I started it was only walking..as I get more in shape, I increase the intensity of the exercise).

* As little processed foods as possible.

* no rice, no bread, no Pasta, no potatoes, very little corn.

* Lean meats (I strive for 90/10.. 85/15 is the highest fat I will buy). Not all ground turkey is lean.. surprise!

* Avoid HFCS like the plague (high fructose corn syrup).. read labels, it's in everything!

* No fried foods. Oven fried is allowed though.

* minimum of 64 oz of water a day. Most days I'm at 80 or above.

*journal my food intake

*attend support group (online or in person or both)

*try to keep trigger foods out of the house, or at least out of sight (have a cabinet for my DS's and DH's treats).

There might be more, but this is all I can think of right now.

[brbm6 6]

I drink at LEAST 100 oz. of Water a day. I track EVERYTHING that goes in my mouth via myfitnesspal.com. I think tracking has really made me aware of what I eat. I also swim every day at least 45 minutes.

[Melissannde 41]

WOW great weight loss! Congrats to you - When you say excercise 5-6 days a week a minimum of 90minutes are you saying 90 minutes each day you excercise or total in the 5-6days??

Most days I exercise 2 hours or more.. My easy day I do 90 minutes. This is NOW.. at 2 years out. I started out just walking..and didn't time it, I just walked a little bit further each day until I was walking a mile.. then I tried to increase my speed.

Not everyone has the time to exercise like I do.. my kids are grown and (almost) out of the house.. makes a difference.

Many ways to add exercise to your day w/o going to the gym. Look for ways to not use your "labor-saving devices".. I've been known to do lunges across my kitchen putting away one piece of silverware at a time. Or squats while on hold on the phone. Put on some great music and dance while vacuuming or sweeping.. take one piece of clothing at a time from the dryer to the bedroom.

I also park far away from the stores and try to make myself walk the perimeter of the grocery store before putting anything in my cart. And I take the cart all the way back to the store.. avoiding those oh-so convenient corrals. If it's really raining hard or really really cold.. ok, I'll give in to the easy way, but otherwise.. nope.

I now take weight lifting and cardio classes at my gym. My poor doggies miss their walks.. I should start that again.

[Cindy C 150]

Most days I exercise 2 hours or more.. My easy day I do 90 minutes. This is NOW.. at 2 years out. I started out just walking..and didn't time it, I just walked a little bit further each day until I was walking a mile.. then I tried to increase my speed.

Not everyone has the time to exercise like I do.. my kids are grown and (almost) out of the house.. makes a difference.

Many ways to add exercise to your day w/o going to the gym. Look for ways to not use your "labor-saving devices".. I've been known to do lunges across my kitchen putting away one piece of silverware at a time. Or squats while on hold on the phone. Put on some great music and dance while vacuuming or sweeping.. take one piece of clothing at a time from the dryer to the bedroom.

I also park far away from the stores and try to make myself walk the perimeter of the grocery store before putting anything in my cart. And I take the cart all the way back to the store.. avoiding those oh-so convenient corrals. If it's really raining hard or really really cold.. ok, I'll give in to the easy way, but otherwise.. nope.

I now take weight lifting and cardio classes at my gym. My poor doggies miss their walks.. I should start that again.

I love how you put away laundry and silverware. I think I'm gonna do that too! Thanks!

[blondielou 2]

* Weigh & measure all meals eaten at home (3oz Protein, 1/2 cup veggies).

* wait 20 minutes after eating.. if still hungry, I can have another serving veggies.. provided no sauce, cheese, etc.

* Only 3 meals a day...unless awake an extended period of time, then may have a 4th meal.

* High Protein, low cal Snacks only if truly hungry between meals. Drink Water first to see if thirst is masquerading as hunger.

* drink 20 oz of Water immediately before meals, and nothing during or after meals.. at least for 30 min., preferably for an hour.

* exercise 5 or 6 days a week, minimum of 90 minutes. (when I started it was only walking..as I get more in shape, I increase the intensity of the exercise).

* As little processed foods as possible.

* no rice, no bread, no Pasta, no potatoes, very little corn.

* Lean meats (I strive for 90/10.. 85/15 is the highest fat I will buy). Not all ground turkey is lean.. surprise!

* Avoid HFCS like the plague (high fructose corn syrup).. read labels, it's in everything!

* No fried foods. Oven fried is allowed though.

* minimum of 64 oz of water a day. Most days I'm at 80 or above.

*journal my food intake

*attend support group (online or in person or both)

*try to keep trigger foods out of the house, or at least out of sight (have a cabinet for my DS's and DH's treats).

There might be more, but this is all I can think of right now.

You're an a$$ kicking inspiration! I really liked what you said in your second reply. Great advice. I am considering the surgery mainly because of all the months I've put in at the gym (4 days a week w/ 45 min on cycle on random hill cycle-amounting to at or above 10 miles and then 20-25 min on the treadmill at brisk pace, around 3.5 mph w/ slight incline of a distance of 1-1.5 miles) and I was getting no visual results. This was added with eating better, not a strict "diet" diet but changing my eating habits. It's one thing to do all the work and see a payoff and a second to do them and not see anything......grrr :/