Many of us could stand to loose a few (or more) pounds of weight. I must include myself in the group. It is my hope that this thread will serve as a place for ideas, support, and success/failure stories.

To begin with, let us start a list of bad eating habits. Foods and beverages that need to be avoided in order to loose weight.

Soda Drinks like: Pepsi, Coke, Dr.Pepper, Mountain Dew, etc.
Snacks like: Potato Chips, Corn Chips, Cheese Curls, Tortilla Chips, etc.
Bread and Crackers
Fast Food like: Pizza, Burritos, Hamburgers, French Fries, Breakfast Biscuits, etc.
Potatoes, Rice, Pasta, etc.

Another list needs to contain good things can help us loose weight.

Citrus Fruits like: Oranges, Grapefruit, Tangerines, etc.
Water, lots of Water
Coffee/Tea (no sugar added)
Vegetables like: Carrots, Celery, Peppers, Cucumber, etc.
Fruits like: Apples, Pears, Grapes, etc.

Exercise is recommended to loose calories/weight. If you are physically able to exercise, it's a good thing to do. Walking, Swimming, and Weight Training are a few ways to burn off those unwanted lb's.

This thread can also help to serve as a support group. We can help each other to be healthier.

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The heaviest I have ever been was 240 pounds. (I'm 5 foot 8)
9 years ago when I had my open heart surgery, I weighed 230. Since then I've worked hard to lose weight, and to keep it off. Walking was my biggest thing that helped a lot. Cutting back on portion size is big too.
I weighed myself this morning, and I'm at 179 pounds. First time I've been below 180 pounds since about the mid 1980s.
It's not easy. My weak spot is potato chips!
Don't cut out all treats, as that will most likely make you give up.
PORTION SIZE is a biggey! Have a little of a treat, and you won't feel like you gave up all the food you like.
My wife has lost 4 pounds in the last couple weeks. Portion size being the biggest change.

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PackersHome. 😝

I drink between 60 to 70oz of water everyday. I don't hardly ever drink soda. I don't like candy or sweets. That alone I think helps me quite a bit. I'm not much of a junk food eater. Although, I do have a Wings addiction. I also like eating hard boiled eggs.

Something I've found that is also good is protein shakes. I've been alernating between Advant EDGE (30g protein) and EAS Myoplex (42g protein). Something to keep in mind is that all protein's are not the same.

It's really good to have a plan, not insanely aggressive plan. Start small. Wake up every day and do one push up in the morning. After two weeks, grow to 3 push ups. This is something small and it will help you psychologically boost your confidence moving forward beacuse you started the day with a goal and achieved it.

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Smokey what you have listed is a great start. Like Zero I like the protein shakes as well, just make sure to check the carb levels.

I would also recommend getting your Vitamin B12 levels checked. Mine at one point was extremely low, once I started taking supplements I noticed my energy increasing.

Drinking water before you eat is a good way to reduce your calories intake as well.

Reducing portion sizes, drinking lots of water, vitamin B12, and Protein Shakes are all fine diet ideas. We have made a fine start, but I know that we can continue to add to this thread.

Exercise has already been mentioned and should be part of a successful diet plan. If you can exercise that is. However for some of us exercise is not an option due to health issues.

As yet little has been posted about meals. Garden Salads with low cal. dressing or no dressing can't be our sole menu. Any Ideas on this area will be gratefully received. [biggrin]

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You want meals? Here's a good starting spot for ya.

http://www.teamunify.com/cast/__doc__/Insanity%20Nutrition%20Guide.pdf 

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Thank you Zero, but this thread is for all members and not just for myself.

Here's an idea that I saw recently. Instead of using bread for your sandwich, try rolling lean sliced meat / cheese in lettuce leaves. It's a simple idea that most of us could do.

Chicken is a prime meat for dieters. Any Tasty / Low Cal. recipes would be most welcome.
Fish too can be a great diet meat. Baked, broiled, grilled, etc., Looking for some great Low Cal. ideas.

Snacking on Raw Vegetables can be a great way to replace those Potato Chips / Corn Chips.

Water can get a bit boring, try adding a few drops of lemon juice or some other flavoring.

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Using wraps in place of bread for sandwiches is something we do too.

I weighed myself this morning...back to 180! Darn!😂

I had to shovel a lot between last night and this morning. Lots of heavy, wet snow. That's my workout for today!

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As I have posted before, exercise should be part of any diet plan. Yet some of us, including myself, have medical issues that prevent us from burning up calories exercising. This makes it even harder to loose weight. As a result, more focus must be paid to what / how much we eat. Self-discipline is the key to success.

Still looking for those tasty low cal recipes. [biggrin]

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That's true, Smokey. Not being able to exercise, at least to some extent, makes it VERY hard to lose weight.
Even a small amount of exercise does help. Walking around your house for example, can help.
Or sitting in a chair and lifting small weights (or something like cans of soup, if you don't have actual weights) can also help.
You can build up strength that way.
I don't know what your physical afflictions are that affect your ability to exercise. I also have several physical problems that affect what I can and can't do.
You have to be smart when it comes to these kinds of things. Building yourself up slowly worked for me. Especially after my open heart surgery. I couldn't walk 10 feet easily before that. I have worked my way up where now I can walk a couple miles at a time.
Of course being winter here, with the ice and all, I haven't been able to get outside much. Today it's melting, and I walked to the library to post here. About a half a mile each way.
I have to be VERY cautious, as I had the spinal fusion surgery, and if I fall I would be in GREAT danger.

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