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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Cheesey, imagine that you tried to take that walk with 30% lung function. Trust me, you would get a most rude awakening. Unhappily, that is my case with COPD. The worst part is the Enfesimia. In addition, I'm not considered ill enough be prescribed Oxygen either.

I do empathise with those that suffer from other serious illnesses.

Chicken, baked or grilled or broiled is a good diet food, it's what we add to it that increases the calorie count.

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I sure didn't mean anything negative towards you, Smokey.
I have asthma, and I somewhat get what you mean. I almost died from an attack several years back , and only by the grace of God did I make it.

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It's all good, I was attempting to illustrate as closely as I could what I live with every day.
Not looking for pitty, just understanding.

This thread is still about dieting, dieting challenges, diet support, low cal meals/recipes, as well as exercising too.

Weight lifting with Canned Foods is a super idea and just what this thread is all about. Making a point to buy fruits, vegetables, pre-cut bagged salad mix, healthy nuts (like Walnuts). Cherries, berries, melons, tomatoes, etc.

Visiting your Dr on a regular basis, especially after age 50. Sometimes problems exist that can get caught early.

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Try bullet-proof coffee. if you have decent blender its easy to make. Along with a couple of small spoonsful of full fat natural yogert, it will kill your appetite til lunch. It will get you metabolism going. Also it is GREAT for your brain. Almost immeadiately, you will notice an increase in mental acuity.

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So brew a pot of coffee, pour a cup in a blender, add yogurt blend and reheat in the microwave?

Not exactly
1. Brew your coffee
2. Add 1 teaspoon to 2 tablespoons of Brain Octane Oil or MCT Oil per cup
3. Add 1-2 tablespoons of grass-fed, unsalted butter....add some honey if you want. per cup.
4. Blend the hell out of it
With the coffee, have a very small bowl of full fat yogurt with some nuts (i.e.almonds, walnuts)
Your mental acuity will increase and your appetite will be tamed until lunch.

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In this thread, hopefully, there will not be any post that are out of order. So I'll not say anything bad about the bullet-proof coffee, but it's not something I could consume. I'm sure that I've eaten things that others would not eat too.

That said, any additional ideas are most welcome.

I grew up with a large garden in our backyard. I developed a taste for eating vegetables raw. Carrots, cucumbers, radishes, spring onions for sure, but surprisingly other things are good raw as well. Peal and eat a raw turnip, it's sweet. Peal and eat a sweet potato, they are great raw. Cabbage is something that we eat in coleslaw or cooked with potatoes, but all of the cabbage (even the center heart) is good raw eating.

Next trip to the grocery store, buy a pair of Pears. Grab your self a few Oranges. Pick your self up a couple of Apples. Grapes are great, so get some.

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Loose/control your weight, start by eating a piece of fruit every day. An apple, a pear, an orange, even a plumb fits the bill.

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Put down those cookies ! Unhand that Pepsi !

Ya gotta think Oatmeal and Apples and lots of Water.

Do it for yourself !

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I'm not so much trying to lose weight as I am trying to maintain weight while getting in better shape.

My biggest problem is always self-control. I have a pretty easy time controlling eating impulses - until I get going. As a result, my diet is pretty lopsided as far as when I'm getting calories on a daily or weekly basis. These issues are further compounded by the fact that my metabolism is slowwwwwww... my BMR (basal metabolic rate) is around 1300, 'normal' for my height/weight/age/gender is around 1700.

I took up jogging last year and signed up for a couple 5Ks, however I messed up my knee (runner's knee -> mild ligament damage shortly thereafter) back in early January and it's been pretty slow recovery, so I've more or less been trying to maintain shape while my knee gets better. I missed the first 5k and the second one is in a little more than a month - I don't think I'll be able to complete the entire thing jogging without tearing up my knee again, so my replacement goal is "more jogging than walking" and to finish in <35 minutes.

So far I've more or less kept myself within 5 pounds of my target rate for the last 6 months, but I haven't accomplished the fitness goals I've wanted to. Fingers crossed that the 5k goes well!