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December 26, 2008

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good luck. keeping a food journal has always been my most successful weight loss strategy. in fact, perhaps you and your husband can do it together, and shoe each other your journals everyday. that way, you both have someone besides yourself you are accountable to. i've found it keeps me more honest.

Keeping a food journal has been the most significant way that I've been able to see how and where the weight comes from. I've been keeping an on-line one that tracks calories and it really works to keep me from eating more then I should. Good luck in whatever you do. :)

Hey pal, we all understand all too well! I agree that a food journal might be a good first step. I had really good results with Weight Watchers a few years ago, and part of the reason it worked was that I was writing down everything I ate. I was "sneaking" in little things here and there before, that I just as quickly forgot that I'd eaten.

Good luck with that. Try to cut out anything with sugar, it packs in the calories and really messes with your whole system, it causes a lot of health problems and hides in a lot of items. Start reading labels. And that's sugar in any form - white, brown, powdered, anything ending in "ose", honey, jam etc etc.

And eating less is key. I haven't been able to exercise the last year and a half so I've cut back on the amount I eat to keep my weight at the same level, which I have. I'm lucky, I can tell when I'm full and I will stop eating, but for others, that will take a lot of work.

Also, when I moved in with my boyfriend, I noticed that I'd serve myself (5'4") the same amount as him (6'4"!), and I was eating it too! So I made sure to scale back my portions. Apparently it's pretty common for women to gain 5 lbs a year for every year they're married for precisely this reason. If those 5 pounds aren't taken off, 5 years down the road and the woman has a lot more heft!

Also, if you're a comfort, stress, or boredom eater that will contribute. And if you're eating processed shite, that means that pure, natural, nice foods aren't going to taste as good because they don't contain the salt and sugar and fat that the packaged/canned/pre-prepped/frozen stuff does, so your taste buds get out of whack. I would suggest going only whole, natural foods if possible, and cooking and your tasting ability should come back. Perhaps cook a family dinner and use it for lunch/breakfast leftovers. This is good for people who feel busy and like they lack time to cook or put together many meals. No white bread! Make nice healthy sandwiches for lunch if kid-time makes it hard to put together lunch, no creepy processed "lunch meats."

And simple things, like walking to a few errands if possible, or parking the car at the end of the lot, instead of looking for the close parking space, and taking stairs instead of elevators - all those few steps really add up, if you can't add exercise to your daily routine right now. Make taking a walk with the kiddos a fun activity. Go to the park or beach(?)on the weekends and run around and chase the kids and take a frisbee or a soccer ball. Wash the car yourself instead of taking through an auto-wash. Stuff like that. Think about how to de-mechanize your life so that you use your body as a tool. It will help.

I love to exercise, but when I can't, the book French Women Don't Get Fat pretty much encompasses my philosophy, except that I'm cutting out sugar, because I'm way too addicted to it and I feel physically bad when I eat it.

Good luck! Let us know how it goes!

So how is this going for you? I just had the same realization - and I did breastfeed my youngest for over a year, but breastfeeding never helped me lose the weight, and I was actually lighter after I him than now, after having a kid to take care of! I'd love to get an update.

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