I'm for real this time....

[elizabethkott]

Ok. Re: water.
I have a 32 oz water bottle. My goal for today is to drink four.
I'm on 1 1/2.
Anyone else want to set a water goal?

[infomama]

Food diaries are much more effective than counting calories.
Here is my 2 cents:

It is more important to eat (good stuff like lean meat, protein, fruit, veggies) when you are hungry rather than when it's "time to eat". Try to be mindful of your body's cues. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate.

A food diary will help you to realize that you need to make better choices and it will hold you accountable for your intake. It's important to write down your daily water intake and exercise in your food diary as well. Just carry around a small spiral notebook. If you want to tally up your calories at the end of the day, go ahead and do that but know that it really isn't a requirement for those who want to loose only a few pounds.

Don't totally deprive yourself of the things you like (sweets, cheese, bread..whatever). The only thing that will result in that kind of deprivation is a binge.

[SnuggleBuggles]

I did a food diary for a few days one time a few years ago and I really thought it was helpful. I got a sense of how many calories things truly were...and I realized how much mindless eating was adding up (you know, stealing food from your kid when you are out to eat ). I was shocked at the calorie content of the boxed mac&cheese I had been sharing with ds for lunch. It was like 400 calories and I had only thought it was 200 something. Yikes!

There are sources that can help you figure out the calories from homemade foods but I usually guesstimate high.

[KBecks]

I really like computer based food journals. My husband lost a lot of weight with detailed calorie counting. I had done a trial of MyFoodDiary.com but I felt it was too expensive, and I need to look for a free one (there are free ones out there, I just need to search now.)

[Melaine]

Ok. Re: water.
I have a 32 oz water bottle. My goal for today is to drink four.
I'm on 1 1/2.
Anyone else want to set a water goal?

I am SOOOO far from that amount right now. I have to push myself to drink two of them. I take tiny sips and simply can't drink quickly, so it's always something I have to work on.

[Melaine]

I love the online diary idea...I am looking at FitDay.com...any experience with it? It looks free.

[KBecks]

I love the online diary idea...I am looking at FitDay.com...any experience with it? It looks free.

I am going to try it out. Going to sign up today.

[KBecks]

Eh, I don't think I like Fit Day based on an initial look. Now I'm browsing at my-calorie-counter.

[gatorsmom]

Yes, but I'm not that annoyed since we bought the ice cream before the BIG TALK so he might as well eat it up, since I won't buy anymore, ykwim? I was strong and ate one of those organic lollipops to make it up to myself.

I have never once counted calories (I feel like I'm admitting some kind of horrible women-sin) and have no idea how to do that (so I could do the budgeting thing). No doubt it would shed some light on the weight pattern.

So how do you guys keep track of calorie intake? Like I had a muffin this morning....how do I know how much it counts since I made it myself?

Woo- I had a long day today and am just getting back to the computer. I'll tell you what I do to keep track of calories and portions, etc.

I've had LOTS of practice doing this. Not necessarily something I"m proud of. I had an eating disorder in college and saw a therapist. She helped alot. The trick to losing weight is not to eat too few calories so that your body binges. Which it will do, no matter how hard you try to restrict yourself, thus starting a terrible cycle. But if you eat too many calories, you gain which isn't healthy either. The nice things about keeping a food diary is that over time, you will realize that it's not how much you eat in one day that is going to make or break your diet. Your weight gain/loss is based on an ongoing average. So, for example, if you are eating 1000 calories per day(which is totally unrealistic but I"m using it to simplify the math here) and you are able to consume 1000 calories/day for 5 days in a row. But then you go to a wedding and have some drinks and some cake. You figure you've eaten 2000 calories for that day- in otherwords you are WAY off your diet. Well, if you average your calories for 6 days you've only taken in 1200 calories/day. And, if you stay on 1000 calories per day for the next 3 days, your average calorie consumption for the past 9 days is 1100. In other words, you reallly haven't gone off course that much if you just get stick to your goals and llet yourself "have a day off" occasionally. Keeping a food diary makes it much easier to understand that.

That said, it's hard to keep track of everything you put in your mouth. Especially if you don't stick to eating at set times during the day. And with little ones around, I find it nearly impossible to write it down each time. So, to make it easier, I eat 4 times/day. I give myself 300 calories to eat for breakfast when I get up, 600 calories about 4 hours later, another 300 for snacktime at about 3pm, and 600 calories for dinner. I focus on eating plenty of protein, I never eat lowfat because I think some fat helps keep me full (in other words, I try to eat healthy, whole foods), and I try to eat all the calories I"m allotted. Also, I don't count vegetable calories (they are freebes for me) and I'm not strict about the calorie counts. If I have a 500 calorie sandwich I'll drink a 120 calorie drinkable yogurt and consider that close enough to 600 calories.

This is what works for me. That's how I lost weight after my aupair stint in France and it worked after each of my pregnancies so far (still working on the twins' pregnancy pounds). Oh, and i do some regular, intense workouts. This might not work for everyone, but it has for me so far. To each his own, you know. But I just thought I'd share what I do and maybe it'll help someone. Calorie counting isn['t fun, but it's doable. And you get better at it over time.

[KBecks]

I think I am going to choose MyFitnessPal as the calorie counter online that I will try. I'm on there as KBecks.