This.And this.Don't fret too much about the caffeine thing (IMHO, everyone always blames it for everything). And don't beat yourself up for the odd slip-up.

Do you have stairs in your house? You'd be amazed at how much exercise is involved in walking fast/running up and down the staircase four or five times in a row. Intermittently drop a few 'laps' into your day and it can make quite a difference.

I'm sure this is probably a given, but I have to ask just to be sure... you and the boyfriend are totally, completely, for sure broken up now right? Because this is definitely the sort of decision that could lead to more weight gain, you know?

I have heard the HCG can be very successful from others as well. I would have a hard time with it, because I wouldn't really know how to maintain after I lost all the weight. But a lot of people do it.

Really, it is all about getting the right amount of fuel (calories.) Not too much and not too little. When you add exercise to it, you get to have more fuel.

No....we're still dating. I just couldn't live with him anymore, the instability was too much.
Dating/living with him was a big factor in the weight gain I think. I drank a lot more alcohol, started drinking sodas again (I had not been drinking them for a few years), and was always eating out ect. Living with my sis should cut down on all of that. I am still sick a lot though. I've been going on regular walks with my dog since I got her, so I get light exercise, but alas I have no stairs.
The problem with cutting down on calories, is the hunger, I just don't deal with it well. I'm like my dad, I get extremely cranky, shaky and weak. Thats why I was thinking of using something like HCG that is supposed to help with that. The warnings are just kinda scary, ya know? My sis in law tried it, but then again she does all the fad diets whether she really needs to or not.
Baring using an aid like that, I at least need a tool to help me plan my meals at least. I am not a very organized person. I mean, I try now, but I can't ever make up my mind and end up spending way too much money and time at the store.

I think I can maintain after I lose it, I've never been even close to being this heavy in my life.

I deal with the hunger by getting beest to chop up a whole shitload of celery for me to munch on when I need a snack. It needs to be beest because then I feel guilty if I want to snack and don't eat that when he went to the effort and it's all there and waiting....

where is the elliptical? Is there nowhere outside you could put it with some kind of rain cover?

Its at my mom and dad's, they're supposedly using it. No there is nowhere outside for it, and I can't really exercise heavily outside in the heat anyway.

I don't have someone to chop up celery for me so I'm SOL on that.

If hunger is the problem, (rather than just the craving for tastes), there are things you can easily do to combat that. Eating wholemeal bread, or oat-based foods gives a slow release energy and makes you feel fuller for longer than if you had the same calorific values from other foods. That's why they make good breakfasts and suppers. It's worth doing a little research on what foods will make you feel fuller and which will last longer.

Also, have you tried miso soup? It's bizarrely filling for such a thin, drink-like soup. It's available (I assume over there as well as here) in instant soup sachets, so easy enough to carry a couple of sachets with you for a mid-aft snack (for instance).


Another good trick, if you're feeling hungry, is to try drinking a decent size glass of water or fruit juice, fairly fast. Then leave it 10 minutes and see if you still feel as hungry.

Jim's advice (think was Jim) about smaller meals but more often is excellent. It will train your body to accept smaller food quantities and also retrain your brain on the 'full/hungry' signals. Only stopping eating when you feel full is one of the easiest habits to fall into ad the ones most likely to lead to eventual weight gain. If you wait til you actually feel full, then you are pushing your stomach's limits every time. Much better to have a smaller meal and accept a less than completely full feeling at the end of it. Chances are if you wait 15 minutes you'll feel full. It just takes that amount of time for it all to register.

Okay, but... pregnancy. Don't do it. That's all I'm saying.


The thing about feeling hungry is, unless you have one of a few rare conditions where your chemical hunger signals are truly screwed up (and you'd know it if you did,) your body's hunger signals are generated not by quantity of food, but by quantity of nutrients. You can trick it in the short-term with high quantities of glucose, or just simply high quantities of everything, because when your stomach is too physically full it does release chemicals that override the chemicals from your brain... but you will soon return to being hungry because your body knows it hasn't gotten what it needs yet.

I know eating healthy food sucks. But if you were eating mostly veggies, I swear to you that you would not be as hungry, because your body would be getting everything it needed and would quit nagging you.

I hate meal-planning with a passion as well. You need to do like Dani said, keep yourself stocked with one or two healthy snacks and don't allow yourself to deviate from them. That way you're not tempted at every turn. Packets of miso are a great idea, although you want to watch the salt and fat content, choose a high-quality brand. Apples with peanut butter are another really filling, and really healthy snack. Just buy a whole bag of apples and eat one whenever you're hungry.

Getting wholegrain rather than white bread and rice is also a biggie. Same with pasta. Most white flour has been processed in such a way as to strip most of the nutrients from it. It's one of the things that allows for longer product storage (makes it unpalatable for weavils for one thing ;p). So, as Clod says, you can physically fill up on it by making your stomach override the brain, but you'll quickly feel hungry again. You won't find that nearly as much if you stick to the less processed wholegrain/brown varieties of cereal and grain foods (aside from the benefits of natural dietary fibre).


I'm trying to eat healthier at the moment. I can't say I am entirely successful thus far. I haven't quite managed to remove the sweets and biscuits and cakes from my diet...but I find if I make myself have fruit as a snack the first time I want something sweet, I can stave off the dangerous stuff til later, and therefore end up eating far less of it.

The key to controlling hunger is balance. Every snack or meal should be composed of a good lean protein, a good (high fiber/low-glycemic) carbohydrate, and a good fat (almonds, olive oil). And you should try to eat every 4 hours or so. This will eliminate a lot of cravings and the low blood sugar crazy/shaky attacks.

This is basically the Zone Diet and I SWEAR by it. It does take a lot of effort to get into and maintain, but it is totally worth it. Everything is improved by it...your health and mental outlook especially.

I did something along those lines a few years ago. Probably not as well worked out as that, but very similar. It did make a hell of a difference. But I eventually slipped back into my usual eating habits (famine and feast).

Me too Dana, but for me all it took was getting married. It was easy to maintain when I lived alone...I turned it into my religion. I really did feel great and I never looked better. Now, I cant say that. (I hate having to cook for other people...grumble, grumble)

Eating multiple small meals a day will keep your metabolism going as well. But, these meals must be small. People who want to gain weight eat multiple protein packed meals a day.