www.CostaRicaTicas.com

I agree it's very tough giving up soda. I've tried several times, but couldn't do it. I was drinking 12-15 cans of Diet Mtn Dew a day. I started drinking Arizona Diet Green Tea and now I'm down to 8-9 cans a day. My goal is to reduce my Diet Mtn Dew intake to 4-5 cans a day.

Try this, buy some diet Cranberry juice and add some to a glass of water. Seriously, you have to drink water.

Green tea, and lots of it. If you are really caffine sensitive, than white tea is very mild. Tea is also full of anti oxidents and has been shown in some studies to help the metabolic process.

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I said hey baby, take a walk on the wild side.
Lou Reed

I haven't been drinking for a while now and have club soda with lime when I'm out. Little carbonation, but none of the bad stuff in soda that I am aware of.

I broke my diet today had at least 3000 calories . I go back on it immediately, I was starving. I have lost 11 pounds in 4 days. The problem I am going to have is losing it too fast and trying to maintain it once I lose it. Diet drinks such as Diet Coke are proven to make you have hunger pains. I expect to lose 6 pounds a week now that I got rid of water weight. 238 to 188 is my goal.

Coke and Diet coke (I drink both in excess) are the hardest part for me. Basically five days of feeling bad, headaches, grumpiness etc. Unsweetened black tea helps some. I am convinced that diet coke has something in it that makes me hungry.

I am down about 7 lbs, walking every day. Also I have started eating the Kashi brand Go lean high fiber cereal again. This stuff worked wonders for my metabolism when I lost 80lbs and ran a marathon in 2002. It takes a few days for your system to get adjusted.

I also eat a small amount of good dark chocolate (70%) almonds and a small glass of red wine to curb cravings and add antioxidants.

I have elimated mayo, white bread and fried foods.

On alcohol side I am staying with red wine, scotch rocks and limit my volume.

Walking to work is also going good.

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BKTUNA/Boyd
I am never going home

BK, the contest is all fine and good but you are doing some smart lifestyle changes that will keep giving you results in the long run. All of you guys keep up the good work and don't get discouraged when you hit a wall. It is going to happen eventually. Just keep on going.

I am down to 207 and 1/2" loss in my waist. I think the tape tells more than the scale. I tell people to not weigh themselves when incorporating exercise with diet as you will gain muscle while losing fat and the scale may not move for awhile, but the tape does.

12-15 cans/day??? Holy shit! I feel bad when I drink a can of Pepsi every 2-3 days...

Wish you all the best in your endeavor. I was able to lose fifty pounds in the first six months of 2010 and have now kept it off for almost two years. Once I broke the habit of overeating and decided it was going to be a life changer, it actually became somewhat easy. I have even kept it off while working for the past year in a couple of delis/cafes that my daughter bought. It is fun work but has high calorie foods.

My success in keeping it off has been that I have continued to count calories and do not deny myself a "vacation" from dieting every now and then. Also, I discarded all my old clothes and I am too cheap to buy new stuff. Lol.

Have a Great Day,

Dave

Accomplshed a task I've been working on for a while, so I felt like celebrating a bit. Hit one of my favorite buffets during wednesday lunch.

Turned out to be a bad idea, they had the best pulled-pork in a spicy bbq sauce I've ever tasted, must of consumed 5000 calories, I'll have to be a little more disciplined and get back to the dieting and exercise tomorrow.

Is it too late to join? At 340 ultimate goal of 235. Goal by july 300. Will be at HLH in october...

I jsut saw this thread. I independently started a diet for CR trip in May. I was at 253 on Apr 1st. Down 5 pounds this week to 248.

KD

A contest where the biggest losers are all winners...



Dave my cudos to you. A fifty pound weight loss that you have kept off for two years is a major accomplishment and life change.

Losing weight is hard, but the real challenge is keeping it off. I propose a second contest that would be one year later the winner being the person that either maintained the weight loss or continued down toward their ultimate goal.

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The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts.

I think losing weight is effortless, what is hard is finding good things to eat that don't make you fat. Foods you like to eat and continue to eat. This takes a lot of time and work. I know, because I have been trying to make any food, good to eat and something I look forward to eating and this meant lots of experiments in the kitchen.

One was finding out that steel cut oatmeal is Damm good! Not to mention far more healthy than processed rolled oats. I have many converts in this food.

Next I decided that Brussel sprouts were a good challenge. Many experiments later, I think I have found a tasty way to cook them and enjoy them. I roast them with onions, apples, pears, wipe with olive oil and garlic - salt and pepper to taste. For some reason it doesn't taste as good freshly cooked as it does warmed up the next day. Those that have tried this experiment, after telling me it sounded awful, liked it.

Roasted asparagus with a little olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper was an instant success. I don't know how I hit that on the first try.

You have to put a thin coat of olive oil when roasting or else the vegetables dry out or look dehydrated. Just wipe it on them, don't roast them in it - if you see oil in the pan, you put too much.

Like I said, the challenge is making healthy food tasty enough that you actually prefer it to unhealthy food.

So far, I eat as much as I want of vegetables and I am losing weight even when I don't exercise.