yes, restrictive diets are hard. try to learn to cook and prepare your own food. that gives you more control over what you eat and you can make it a combination of healthy and tasty. Learn to use spices and seasonings and make good food that is healthy. Mix in veggies and a few fruits.
Seafood is where you can really splurge. You can eat a half pound of shrimp (about 300 calories, more if you fry it) and do very little damage to your diet. I like chef salads with a variety of tastes and textures. In addition to veggies with crunch, I like to julienne a couple of thin slices of deli turkey for a protein punch, or throw on a handful of cooked shrimp, or both. You can come up with a large, flavorful meal with little effort, but avoid creamy dressings. If you can find something like passion fruit vinegar, you have a dressing with zero impact.
What about salmon? I generally dislike fish but I like Salmon, I like it best, however, as smoked Salmon on a bagel, but, thats too much, with the creem cheese.
Saving. Thank you.
Salmon is very fatty, but smoked salmon is very low in calories, about 30 per ounce. Have a half bagel, a few ounces of smoked salmon and a tablespoon of cream cheese and you’re at about 300 calories. Jazz that up with some sliced tomato and thinly sliced red onion and some dill weed, and you’ve gained bulk without adding calories.
I have a couple of friends who’ve done phenomenal with it. One lost over 50 lbs. I wonder, though, if they’ll be able to sustain that kind of loss over the long term. That’s why I question the whole thing.
I’ve got pretty bad arthritis in both my feet, knees, and hands, which sucks donkey dong because of what I do for a living. I refuse to let the pain take over, so I push through it, sometimes with the help of naproxen, depending on the weather (yes, barometric pressure does have a lot to do with arthritic pain, who knew?)
I’ve always walked. I’ve got dogs, and they’re pretty good at getting me off my arse 
There are days, though, where I drag myself home from work and I can barely muster enough energy to toss something together for dinner, flop on the couch, and promptly fall asleep until it’s time to go upstairs. Or days like today where it’s utterly freezing cold out and I know going out there is going to wreak havoc on my joints. OTOH going out will get me moving rather than staying in here, so…
I LOVE swimming, always have. Unfortunately the schedule for free adult swimming at our local Y is slim to none. I think there’s a one-hour block every morning but it coincides with my work schedule. I’d be losing money signing up for it 
unfortunately, I no longer live in NYC. Good salmon bagels are not to be found around here (where I live now)…
My workout plan: 2 kettlebell/strength training classes per week; 1 or 2 ballet classes a week; 1 or 2 two-mile brisk walks per week (with the Zombies, Run!) app.
My better eating plan: No sugar (including artificial sweeteners) and no alcohol/wine for at least 21-30 days (hidden sugar keeps tripping me up, so I need to be more vigilant, but obvious sugar (treats) is easy to avoid). Also, less refined grains, in fact less grains overall, more protein, vegetables and salads.
My overall goal - 1) Get stronger; 2) Get healthier; 3) Lower body fat percentage/drop a jeans size.
- Go to store
- Buy smoked salmon and some sort of bread object
- Buy tomato and onion and low-fat cream cheese
- Make sandwich
sounds good 
Probably the most important thing about starting exercise is creating the habit to exercise. Make a commitment to make exercise a part of your life rather than searching out an activity which is enticing enough to motivate you to exercise.
If you’re not exercising now, start by picking 3 specific 30-minute times during the week when you’ll exercise (e.g Mon/Wed 12:00, Sat 10:00). If you don’t know what to do, start by walking. You can easily walk from your home or work and it’s only 1.5 hours per week. Keep a strict schedule for 4-6 weeks so it becomes a habit. Schedule the times in your calendar so you’ll be less likely to skip. After it becomes a habit, you’ll think “Which activity shall I do during my exercise time?” as opposed to “Which activity is so fun that I’ll be enticed to turn of the TV?” The change in mindset is important to ensure a lifetime of activity.
I like my gym at 10am, I’m the only one there except the trainers.
I’m using My Fitness Plan to help with my eating and following a pretty strict clean-eating plan. My gym (which is a MetCon/CrossFit hybrid) is holding a 12 week challenge and there are some great prizes, so at this point, my motivation has been great.
I have several fitness goals:
[ol]
[li]Double-unders (which I sort of have, just not strung together)[/li][li]Pull-ups[/li][li]Box-jumps (got this one)[/li][li]Hand-Stand Push-ups[/li][li]Sub-30 5k[/li][/ol]
Week one: did three 600-calorie workouts. Ate ten servings fruit & veg per day (<=2 servings fruit). Hungry and crabby much of the time, it seemed.
Gained half a pound.
Husband still played grab-ass when I was in my underwear. So whatever.
I got laid off last month, so I have more time for the gym. And snacking.
I generally do the boot camp type classes, but tried a barre class this week that kicked my ass. Also took a kettle bell classes for the first time last week. I like classes because I am forced to keep going for a whole hour. Big fan of mixing it up, too, with new things.
There’s a good free pedometer app called Pacer. Really great way to see how much activity you get in on an average day. You can add friends as well. My husband and I are nearly tied for this month. Must win!
Over the last few years I’ve REALLY tried to change my eating habits. I started slowly making a small change at a time and it seems to have worked. Of course I occasionally fall off the wagon, but as my dietician* says, I don’t have to be perfect. My goal is to become a vegetarian and I’m getting closer. The key for me is to not make huge changes all at once and expect them to stick. I learn about something small, make a small goal and it becomes a regular thing. Then I make another small one. My very first one was to cut out white bread. That was it.
I started this year with a whopper of a cold so I’m definitely off the wagon (all I wanted was french bread and apple juice :smack: ) but I’m back to it now. My main thing is not being able to stick with exercise. My favorite is walking because I live in a lovely area and it’s easy for me, but I’ll be all gung-ho for a few months (or less) then I slack off. Last year my goal was to walk my first 5K and I did it! Then my goal was to walk another one! Which I didn’t. :rolleyes: Now I’m not walking at all and need to get my rear in gear.
I really am learning the importance of vegetables. Like Sattua I want to eat nine to 10 vegis/fruits a day with only two being fruit. I’m pretty good with five or six being effortlessly incorporated and need to work to do better with the rest. I’ve really noticed a difference in my hair, skin and fingernails. I’ve taken vitamins for years and can tell that getting nutrients from food is much more effective.
I’d love for this to be an ongoing thread and hope we can share tips and cheer each other on to better health this year. 
- She’s not a regular thing. I had cancer in 2014 and consulted with her on nutritional requirements, and now she’s happy to answer an occasional email from me on healthy eating in general.
My goals are mostly around fitness benchmarks, too. I just restarted Crossfit and my first goal is Xfit 3times per week and running twice per week. I want to look 10 lbs thinner, but I know that that might not mean losing 10 lbs, muscle being denser than fat and all.
My Xfit specific goals are really about getting my lifts heavier. In the time I wasn’t doing Xfit, I seemed to just cherrypick what I was working on in the gym, so my squats and deadlifts are great, but anything overhead is poor. And running twice per week (at least) is just because I love it.
I agree that habit and a schedule are very important. That has helped me in the past.
Bolding mine. Like I said, fads seldom work. ‘Balanced diet’ means just that.