Anyone ready to ring in the new year...and lose weight/get fit?

[elizabethbinary]

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Coffee is what gets Americans. No offense but you guys have such awful coffee! I don't blame y'all for ladening it with sugar and creamer, but I've noticed what goes in them. Most Americans morning coffee is something like 600-800 calories!! I saw in America someone order an extra large double cream double sugar two pump vanilla macchiatto or something... so double fat (fat has the highest % of calories by weight), double sugar plus two more extra pumps of flavoured sugar..in a double coffee! And then he added sugar packets. I did the maths... this man buys 1200 calorie coffees!!

I don't mean to sound like an arse but have you tried grinding your own beans from a lovely source? I found when I increased the quality of my coffee, I decreased what I was putting in it. I -only- have sugar with pre-ground coffee. I got a machine that grinds the exact amount for my stovetop and machine percolators (the stovetop method is so quick, easy and delicious I do NOT know why it's more popular!!! It makes a GREAT coffee.. I prefer it to my $3,000 machine!!!) and it makes it easy... put the filter (mine are metal) in the machine, press the button, perfect amount of JUST ground coffee, put in my water-filled stovetop thing, twist on the top and put on a low fire for 3-4 minutes. When you can hear it, it's done.

The quality of the foods you eat can make or break your diet because lower quality foods can need a bit of a flavour pick me up... (which is why southern food is so gosh darn delicious and bad for you!.. they use the worst cuts EVER!).

Great, now I want collard greens. I love the south.

 

[elizabethbinary]

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My girlfriend packed us a lunch on a cute country drive and I was so impressed with what she put out for me... the night before she grilled eggplant and peppers and put them in a sandwich with goat's feta, a little bit of olive oil, some lemon, salt and pepper and on ciabatta bread. (she's vego) and then she pulled out handmade tiny pikelets (pikelets are aussie for 'mini pancake') with homemade stewed berries to sweeten it! It was delicious!!

My packed lunches tend to be homemade oat bran and honey muffins, a vegetarian sandwich like above, a bag of muesli (toasted nuts, oats and raisins/sultanas), some bits of good cheese (to make it worth it) and grapes, a peach or banana, a tin of tuna and some whole wheat crackers (I have a recipe for my own crackers if you want), and some lemon soda water (with my own soda machine so it's just water/lemon with fizz, no aspartame).

I should mention I drive for a living so I have a big lunch to keep me snacking on for hours instead of as one big meal, so I eat more.

OENSdog, if you have an iPhone I can recommend some excellent dietary/calorie applications.

No I am a granny I have a brick phone not an I phone!!!!!!

Haha I have to be like that don't I?

I was surprised at the calories in some things. I found out with the app I was actually *OVER* counting most of my calories, not under (I seem to think a banana in 100 calories but I eat small bananas, so they're only really 50-60).... which wasn't helpful in my case. And I know a lot of people miss the little things... it was stuff like mayo, butter, catsup, etc that you would forget to input that had 70% of the calories, not the bread you were eating... I'm rambling!

There's books out too!

Small ones that just give a basic rundown. But don't become obsessive!! I had one meant for nutrition students that listed EVERYTHING. next think you know I'm at dinner with my husband and I say to him, "No honey I can't have the fish, I am already twice my limit on zinc for the week... I really do need more vitamins A, B and carbohydrates so I'll have the pasta with peas and carrots...."...even though I wanted the darn fish!!!

 

[Momagain1]

100% agree...

I made a sandwich last night w/1 oz proscuitto (which is VERY fatty) and 1 kalamata olive and onions tossed with dried thyme and carmelized in the oven..then put that on top of the
proscuitto and olives on a low fat bun and pressed it ..w/o fat...toasted sandwich and it was SOOO tasty!

I often wondered (til I went to one) why restaurants with higher quality foods didnt give you as much as the "mediocre" food restaurants (you know..the chain ones and mom/pop ones usually)...
well I went to one locally and we go ONCE a yr due to the bill being about $65 for two of us w/no drinks or desserts..and the quality of the food was amazing..I slowed down and was really
enjoying the flavors of the herbs etc they used. I found out later; no oils other than to baste the pan was used..no butters and no added fats..just herbs, quality product and a phenomenal end product..
THANK GOSH in 2 wks my hubby and I's anniversary is coming up..we're going there lol...

we started grinding our own beans for hubby and he doesnt put any sugars in it now or creams..he also uses a french press....
so for about $25 we have amazing coffee for him..the french press is about $17 and the grinder about $5 at walmart..

I know a guy who goes to starbucks and getsa QUAD caramel macchiato (is it venti? or grande" the largest one..) anyway..its HUGE incalories!!

 

[elizabethbinary]

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Thanks for that. I get so discouraged at time sbecause my weight wont go!!!!!!!! - I only use Semi Skimmed milk in my coffee NO sugar and I drink it nearly black. Also I cut a lot of it out and now drink water with my meals. I felt thiner and fitter but my weight wont change.

I also changed a lot of habbits. I now take breakfast when I started out I never ate breakfast. I used to eat just a slice of toast and jam but elizabethbinary got me to think of taking protien earlier in the day so I eat an egg or mussilli. I also go for fruit when the others are eating cakes. I deliberately put a bowl of fruit on the coffee table so when they reach for the cakes to offer me one I just grab an apple or banana instead!

So I am trying - though today I felt bloated and awful?

Oesdog

Oh I just noticed you're eating protein in the morning, yay!!!!

You do the fruit bowl thing like I do too!!

And you FEEL fitter and thinner!! Oh that's FABULOUS! C'mon... I've been eating like a MACK truck and I only gained 2 pounds in 3 weeks but I -FEEL- fantastic. Weight is such a, let me be frank her, BULLSHTT thing... because all weight is is a measurement of how hard gravity is pulling you to the Earth. You want to base your self-worth on a gravitational measurement designed by a man!? It takes into account nothing but that. Not size, not shape, not bone density, not health...

That's kinda why I never really track my weight, just how I feel. Which is why I don't get near a scale often.

EVERYONE who's seen me the last few weeks says I look vibrant and amazing. I've hardly gained a thing. The point is - I LOOK vibrant and amazing. Just like YOU do, but the stupid measurement of how much gravity is working makes you feel less. Think about it... you totally wouldn't weigh that if gravity were just one iota stronger or weaker, so why feel bad for not losing weight? It's the Earth's fault, not yours!!! YOU, however, feel great!

 

[elizabethbinary]

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The fancy restaurant is similar to how I eat every day. Quality ingredients will change so much about the way you eat. When you get a NICE banana you enjoy every bite of it. I get these local organic UNGASSRIPENED bananas and they don't even compare to gas ripened ones. Even the TEXTURE is different. So my bananas are smaller but WAY more nutrient-dense and flavourful. I don't need as much to get the same feeling..

...which is probably half my problem. Hahaha.

I wish I ate pork, seems like a good way to go.

Mmmmm coffee... this is the thingy I use:

I'm not kidding either when I say I prefer it to my expensive machine - I can't make cappucinnos with it like my nicer one nor can I have coffee *as* quickly, but it's soooo delicious!! And I don't like cappucinos much anyway.

 

[wildorchid053]

my mother 78 yrs old has been looking for a percolator coffee pot. they are rare in the united states any more.. everyone here uses a drip maker. i do use 1/2 and 1/2 and splenda for my coffee. i have found it helps curb the breakfast feasting if i have some.. i never used to be a coffee drinker until last year. i have also been trying odd foods that my daughter is introducing me too.. served this for dinner one night and hubby just looked at me strange.. i had a pita pocket heated, hummus, marinated olives, and a fried brown rice made with a protein type soy sauce and peppers and onions. he ate it but not his regular meat and potatoes lol . last night i ate at daughters and we had chicken stir fry.. 3 breasts with veggies fed 7 adults just fine and for dessert we had strawberries and blueberries with a little unsweetend whipped cream.. didn't like the unsweetened whipped cream so would rather do with out.. but tonight i am having pizza. have to have one night of no cooking so this is my splurge for the week. stay healthy all and keep up the good work.. linda

 

[elizabethbinary]

Stove top percolators are very common here (students LOVE them) so I can grab one for $12-20 ($20 being a 2cup one) and send them for, sadly, about another $20 if anybody wants me to grab one for them. I know it's like $40 but it really is delicious coffee!! And you can run it without electricity! Emergency coffee, man! And campfire coffee!

Unsweetened whipped cream tastes weird but I have a suggestion! Next time you whip cream, put vanilla in it instead of sugar - it flavours it nicely without the sugar!

.... I'm all full of suggestions for someone who can't fix her own health quickly, hahahaha.

I'll back off.

 

[Carols Clucks]

Our Christmas present this year was good coffee.

We got a nice Cuisinart Coffee Maker, a Capresso conical burr grinder and $10 Costco (starbucks) beans. I have a great cup calling me to get out of bed in the morning and only add a splash of milk.

No buying coffee at starbucks, no adding sugar sweeteners.....

 

[Kassaundra]

If they ever make a coffee that tastes

like it smells

I'd be all over that, but until then I'll stick w/ my cocoa.

 

[annaraven]

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Let's admit it - the Earth sucks!