I'm gaining weight and don't like it one bit! Being confined to the house 24/7 and not getting out enough is putting the pounds on me. I have the type of body where I can look at a piece of pie and gain 5 pounds.....you get the idea. The grind and boredom of being a full time caregiver to my elderly mother has given an already hefty appetite.....more momentum. I'm am starting a "strict diet" tomorrow and will keep you all posted on my success. I would like to hear from others who have gained weight from being "tied down" in their role as caregiver.
The friend who told me about this wasn't a student either. But it also might just have been a policy at that community college.
My mom makes great fudge and that's all I have each Christmas. She makes a large assortment for the family and also gives some away as gifts. She makes enough for me to take some to my office and to give the staff at my LO's MC as a nice gift. The MC staff really look forward to it.
What I now keep in mind is that some treats are not my friend. I can have them, but, not hang with them too much. lol I remind myself that the problem is not having one piece of fudge on Christmas Eve. The problem is to have 6 pieces on Christmas Eve and some everyday for the next week! lol I'm learning that moderation is the key and that a little bit is just fine.
I’ll google Mackinaw Island fudge while I’ll at it - maybe I’ll get lucky and find some that ships. So naughty!!!
I've had See's candies and they're very creamy; love them, but it's too easy to eat too many and get a sugar headache. But there's a certain lightness to them that I like.
For homemade fudge, have you tried a real simple recipe of 12 oz. of Hershey's chips, about 1/2 tsp. of vanilla (if desired), nuts (if desired), and a can of condensed milk? It doesn't seem grainy to me, just decadently delicious and fattening. I do have the strength to hold off making any until the first blizzard, when I'll be able to work off the calories.
CWillie, we're only mentioning, and dreaming, but I'm sure we all have enough will power to resist (smirking as I write this knowing that I don't have that will power).
Ms. Madge, if you get any cranberry orange truffles, you can have a few pieces for me. That reminds me of a delicious cranberry orange relish I had when Trader Joe's first opened in the area in which my sister lives. It was the best cran relish I've ever had - fresh and light, not heavy with sugar.
Are you anywhere near a community college or a city that has a fitness center? Years ago I learned that the county community college had a fitness center in the upscale campus branch. It was something like $10 for a year and a nominal fee (maybe $3??) for each visit. There were time limits, as students if I recall were given priority.
The gym was well equipped, not just dozens of treadmill and ellipticals but a really good variety of other equipment, some of which I had never seen during the varied rounds of therapy I had had at hospital outpatient gyms.
One of the local communities also has a fitness center, with rates that are reasonable (last time I checked it was something like $10 or $20 for nonresident membership). Residents did have priority times though.
Over a decade ago one of the local hospitals built its own fitness center, in part I suspect to channel rehab patients to a facility at which the hospital could bill Medicare for rehab, as opposed to patients going to a private, commercial company that provided limited rehab at the patient's home.
I was enthused until I went for a tour and was asked to sign the indemnification agreement even before I saw the facility. I kept the agreement, with the intent of contacting the hospital or complaining to someone about the indemnification requirement, but eventually decided not to bother as I suspected nothing would be done, and that monitoring agencies or the hospital probably wouldn't find it as objectionable as I did.
But do try community colleges and adjoining neighborhoods (especially ones with good senior outreach programs, not just casino trips).
I have the recipe for See's fudge - used to make it every year for mom's Xmas party
They have a special November truffle assortment - pecan and a cranberry orange
I think instead of cleaning the bathroom today I'll head to See's which is right next door to Starbucks
Does anyone else think it's kind of counter productive to keep mentioning all these delicious foods on a weight loss thread? To heck with weight loss, now I'm hungry!
If it’s homemade it’s hard to find fudge that isn’t grainy. But when it’s done right - either with or without nuts - I have no willpower or self control!
Store bought fudge has to be See’s. At Christmas they have a bordoux fudge, vanilla nut fudge and a chocolate nut fudge tri-pak that is sheer heaven! I wait until about a week before Christmas to buy it or God knows how many boxes I’d go through!
As for exercise- I’ve had three back surgeries- all considered a fail - and I need a fourth, which I’m not planning on doing. I have a problem with scar tissue causing nerve damage. Plus - if I sneeze too hard it’s nearly enough to blow another disc so I avoid exercise. Even walking can be problematic as I walk with a limp and it throws my hips all out of whack even on relatively short walks. Pretty good excuse? I do have a yoga program for my Wii that I’ll probably dig out. Swimming is an option but I don’t like it much. I took lessons from age two and got my lifeguard certificate at about age 15 - but somewhere after that I just started to hate swimming. Don’t know why.
But today is a rainy, cold Sunday and I’m thinking a Eggnog Latte would be perfect. Seriously- if you’ve never had one - and like Eggnog- you have to try it. It’s sooo good!
Rainmom, those tasty treats really got my mouth watering. I LOVE Starbucks beverages and that Peppermint ice cream sounds AWESOME! I will try them. When I started my plan, I didn't rule anything out. I eat something that I want every week, not just everyday. lol I could never give up treats and my favorite dishes. I just limit it to once a week. The rest of the time, I eat lots of very tasty, healthful food. So far, it's worked great. Slow and steady....which is what I wanted.
I have had run ins with weight gain in the past and I got it off by not eating lunch. I would drink a diet cola and eat a sandwich then cook in the evening because hubby wanted a meal. My closet ranges from 12 to 18 but I am not getting rid of any of it.
I love the look of all the foods the diet plans advertise on TV but too frugal to consider buying. Besides which I don't believe a thing i see on TV. Too many snake oil salesmen!.
Hubby is the one who needs to loose weight round here. Right now he looks about 12 months pregnant. I don't even bother to comment anymore.
As I have said about other things do the best you can and don't rush at it
Rain mom do you think you can start with the exercise between now nd the holidays. that may give you a good start. Even if it is only a leisurely swim at the Y.
I've seen it in the Kroger ice cream section and just the thought of the light, deliciously cool flavor brings back memories, and fragrances...of turkey in the oven, of my mother's Armenian rolls, the crisp outdoorsy fragrance of the tree...good memories, all.
Peppermint ice cream is indeed special. So definitely have some before you start on a diet!
I’m 5’8” and didn’t break 120lbs until my “freshman 10” in college. I had Rainman at 31 and that brought the “baby weight” - which I’m still trying to loose!
But it was the stress of a bad marriage that really did me in. But after I got rid of The Donor - I got rid of most of the weight.
But then the stress of being a single mom with a disabled child - weight back on.
Met new hubby - happy at last - weight back off.
Stress of looking after my parents - weight back on. SIGH!!!
I have a wardrobe that ranges from a six to a sixteen. The number markers on my scale in a 60 pound range are worn off from the needle going back and forth so many times!
So - come New Year’s Day - actual the day after - I’ll be back at - trying to loose the weight. I’ll work on just being better until then, when I’ll have to fully commit. I just know it would be foolish of me to start now - setting myself up to fail if I did.
It’s the holiday season. Two things I look forward to all year - Starbucks Eggnog Lattes and Haagen Daz Peppermint ice cream. They are only available this time of year - and they make me happy. Not in a comfort for stress kind of way but in a “WOW, that’s good” way.
Also, if you have unexplained weight gain, I'd consider sleep disorders and thyroid imbalance. Both can cause you to pack on pounds.
When I am stressed I don't want to eat, yet the weight piled on. If I keep this up, you will see on "My 600 lb Life", and that is scary.
Can't into my favorite blue jeans, ones that looked pretty good, and did not make me look like a letter P.
Pam, I was also diagnosed a pre-diabetic last year, but so far no meds were given to me. My doctor said for me to lose 4 pounds, and I thought that would be easy enough, BUT IT'S NOT !!! I know walking is the best thing, but I hate to walk alone :( And I don't want to give up my Starbucks Hot Chocolate.
I know, I have no idea how bad it will get. It scares me.
I find I look at french fries and actually don't want them because they will "waste" so many of my calories. Desserts - I fantasize about desserts. But again, I usually don't want them enough to order a whole one.
Now I'm trying to quit smoking using the e-cigs and I'm exercising more to keep my metabolism up. We'll see. But so far I'm not replacing smoking with eating using the e-cigs and I've smoked 45 years but I don't see it as a cake walk. Weaning my brain off nicotine is a real challenge.
Just try to figure out what you want to do and stick with it. But yes, if you are confined to the house most of the time, you need an exercise routine. Just running in place will boost your metabolism and your energy level.