OK, anyone interested in diet/exercise thread?
This is MENA specific, as we all deal with dieting despite husbands with high metabolisms (to generalize) and cooking us (or we cook them) lots of bread, middle eastern food, etc. Also how to workout while abroad.

So... who is in?

I didnt really start this on NYD I have been doing for a while... I am not eating any processed foods unless they are veggie burgers that sort of thing (with all good ingredients), trying to increase my fruits and veggies and keeping them as raw as possible, I have elminated dairy (this is just an experiment I am trying) and I have been doing lots and lots of exercise. I had a baby almost 9 months ago and I am at my pre pregnancy weight but since then, no budging! So not sure what is happening there but I would like to lose 10 lbs!

Count me in. I've put on some weight over the holidays and it needs to come off! I'm looking to lose 10-15 myself.

I need to get to the gym during my lunch break (we have one right here in the building). I've just gotten used to using that time to get in some extra studying. No clothes with me today so workouts are gonna have to start tomorrow!

I was PMing Lost in NY about this! Saying we should start one because a lot of us have this issue with their diet versus our butt-expansion. Sultan's kitchen can get too bug and this could be a place where we could consider posting low-fat recipes or modifications for recipes as well.

I had been really bad, just eating whatever I wanted and I gained 39lbs (so was 149). I;'ve lost 5 but didn't budge in the last 2 weeks.. still lost inches though. Am doing 30 minutes 5 days a week on stair stepper and doing some abs work and some light weights and 15 push-ups. I probably need to increase my abs workout. I can't do anything with weights over my head or chest because my arms will freeze at the glenoid fossa. I cannot deal with that kind of pain either!

I figure I need to keep intaking the veggies. I've tried to cut back my soda to one diet and one regular per day. Used to be like a 2-liter of regular

This is a really good light recipe for waldorf chicken wraps. I made them this weekend with my Mom and they're really good. You can also just eat the salad plain, or over lettuce. Here you go!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/re...6_66437,00.html

omg after 9 month's you're at your pre-preg weight??? After 10 1/2 years I'm still at my post pregnancy weight! Granted it is the weight after the 1st kid, not the second since they were back to back. lol.

I'm going to seriously start exercising and watch what I eat. No promises but something needs to be done. Problem with going on WW or things like that for me is that my medications (prednisone, etc.) bloat me up when I'm in a flare and need to take them so when I'm bloated I get depressed and get the fk it's and eat whatever I want.

If I keep the exercise up though that outta do something.

I am totally reccomending the mini stair stepper from Sharper Image you guys. it's like $80 and it's reaaaaallllly tiny! About the size of a back pack. I love mine.

I've been using brown basmati with meals and adding a tsp of cumin, a bay leaf, a tsp. of coarse kosher salt, a few shakes of black pepper and 1.5tbs of chicken consomme to it. it really flavors well, and in all it adds about 15 calories to each serving.

I like the idea of sharing recipes.

Tonight I am making:
Miso Soup: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/103391
Spicy Asian Slaw: http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefi...ecipe_id=665301
Asian Noodles: http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/maindishe...asiannoodle.htm

Although on the asian noodles, Im not on a low carb diet and I dont want all of that oil etc and I dont eat pork, so I am making it with smart ground (fake meat), natural peanut butter, and no oil if I can avoid it, if I need something Ill use my wholefoods cooking spray.

Im making so many things because we like variety plus we will eat the leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

I will let you know how the recipes are tomorrow....

count me in! getting my fat arse to the gym today. i went last week. i was so excited to begin my plan. i felt GREAT after (i had not worked out since my husband arrived)..and the next day i came down with this nasty cold! but i'm going to go today anyway. and today i begin our diet food plan. my husband has also gained a few since he arrived in late july so it won't hurt him to be on a diet either. it will be hard weaning him off in-n-out though!!!!!!!!

good luck ladies. i've got tons of recipes i'll try to get around to posting soon!

It's on sale for $60 http://www.sharperimage.com/us/en/catalog/product/sku__SR407


I'd be afraid that I'd fall though since my balance sucks. I'm looking at this now and wondering why it's so cheap? http://www.sharperimage.com/us/en/catalog/...t/sku__MY204BLU

I'm in. The last time I was in really good shape, I was walking three miles a day, rain or shine, and eating a lot of veggies. I had a good walk yesterday and I want to keep that up. Hubby's got one of those MENA metabolisms, but he doesn't walk as much now and likes American food (the bad kind) so he's put on a couple of pounds. We really need to work on our meal planning.

I am actually really proud of myself because I ate healthy throughout my pregnancy, REALLY healthy. I ate alot, but it was all really good for me, I felt like I was treating my baby so well. He is thanking me for it now because he is precious and growing like a champ and has always slept wonderfully (spitting for the evil eye!)

I also kept up light exercise. I am very spoiled and I have a very nice elliptical in my house. I actually did the elliptical the day before I gave birth for a reallllllllly long time, although lightly. I was hoping to go into labor! It didnt work, I had to be induced.

What are you on medication for if it isnt too personal? That stinks that it bloats you, I remember I had a roomate in college on prendisone for asthma I think? and it used to bloat her tremendously.

WW etc isnt for me, living in a mediterranean style family plus my husband and I are major foodies. We are OK with dieting, eating healthy, as long as we can find interesting things to make to keep it going.

I'm so in - I'm hideous looking at this point! My resolution was to make meal plans and stick with them. I started yesterday by putting it onto a spreadsheet and adding recipes so my hubby can help too. This will hopefully help us eat better as well as save money with less binge shopping. There was a group of us on sparkpeople a while ago and I really liked the site. Maybe it's something to consider running again??

Oh yea I also started packing my lunch and am going to use my lunch time to take a walk. That should help some!

Oh another thing I am trying to do daily is juice. It gives me so much energy I feel like I am on speed. It makes me not want coffee. I have to have my morning cup of coffee but I used to drink it all throughout the day, now I juice in the morning and then it keeps me going, I dont need or want any more coffee! My favorite right now is beet, orange, carrot and apple (mixed together). I have a nice juicer, stainless steel, not too many parts and I can keep it on my counter since it is nice looking.

binge shopping is our problem! and spontaneous going to restaurants! if i would cook something healthy, he'd eat it. but sometimes i get lazy and don't shop healthy/cook anything and we end up going out (bad!!!)

I made the decision in September to go about losing weight. I started a low carb, low fat diet and have lost 50 pounds since then. I have plateaued over the holidays, but I consider it a great feat to really look at what I eat now and to not binge eat. My New Year's resolution was to really use the recumbent bicycle we bought about a year ago. That is my plan for today!

50 lbs!? Wow! Congrats!

im in.... my first step is I was given a bike for chritmas so if it is not raing I am going to ride to/from work 7 miles and go back to ww.

any wishing to lose weight should be available for early spring cleanup around my house. i need trees trimmed, brush hauled off and burned, leaves picked up and burned, the yard dethatched and raked.....

Count me in! I want to lose another 15 or so.

Isn't there something else besides the prednisone you can take? I know it works, but that stuff is is evil, evil, evil and can cause bad long term effects. It can make you gain weight and totally mess up your adrenal glands.


Thanks Sarah! I'm definatly going to try this! Any other light recipes you have?

50lbs is awesome! Congrats! If you dont mind my asking, do you eat carbs in veggie/fruit form? If you dont, how do you get energy? Just curious because the times that I did try to be low carb I felt lethargic and was wondering how people stuck to it...

I adore smart ground! I have never met someone else who loves it? Awesome! I use it for tacos, unseasoned.

There's lots of good recipes in the weight watchers cookbook, otherwise I think Ellie Krieger on Food Network does a pretty good job with light recipes. Her show is called "healthy living". If I come across anything I'll post it.

You can try them out in the store and see if you like them. I took the arm-resistence bands off my stepper because I didn't like them.

Wow, 50lbs! Congrats!

I'm in as well. I'm looking forward to losing about 50-60 lbs. I'll post the links to what I am doing if anyone else would be interested.

Things I'm into doing this year for my well-being:

An all Vegan diet. While I'm doing that I also plan to cleanse my body first with a colon cleanse kit my friends and family rave about. Colonix link Then I'll do a toxin cleanse for my liver, kidneys, blood, brain, and other vital organs. Toxinout link I also plan to start doing yoga the first few months of the year to be gentle with my out of shape body and slowly strength it until I can do something more ambitious like this running program a nurse told me about. Couch to the 5K I've done this running program in the past and it was wonderful. It is only three days a week for nine weeks and and it's designed to go slowly building upon each week so the goal can really be achieved. When I first did it I lost 15 lbs. in 9 weeks which is a reasonable and healthy weight loss. Then purely for peace of mind I am also starting this 21 day Meditation Challange. Meditation Challange

I'll share one of my favorite things to eat that goes along the lines of good for you, delicious, and quick and easy to make.

In a normal size serving bowl for an individual put:

A bottom layer of warm brown rice.
A layer of warm lentil beans on top of the rice.
A layer of cool fresh torn apart romaine lettuce.
Fresh squeezed lime juice on top.

* You can adjust portion size of layers to taste and add pepper and salt.

im considering doing the biggestloserclub.com

I was watching the new season last night. The women were losing upwards of 15 pounds in the first week! That's crazy!

I'm actually going in a couple of hours to my Rheumatologist so I'll ask him but I doubt there's anything else at the moment that I can take. He mentioned enbril or elavil or something I can't remember at one point so I'll ask again.

There's an I.V medication that I've heard RA suffers rave about. Have you looked into that?



But I'm a crappy cook Seriously, I'm trying very hard to be a better cook, but I think my problem is I really don't like to cook. If I can prepare it in 10 minutes and throw it in the oven, I'm good, but if it takes a lot of time....I go crazy.

Ok ok,,,I gained a few pounds over the holidays. Damn them cookies.

J

I guess I can share my weight battle issues on MENA for a while.

My problem is my environment.....I have no real self control and I usually only suceed in losing or maintaining weight when I travel or live in India. The reason I do so well in India - I hike 3 to 4 hours a day, eat local foods which are veggie and lentel based and have a social life. Food takes on less importance.

Here in USA, I work, sleep, work, sleep, not much else. It's dark when I leave for work and dark when I get off work. It rains all the time because this is Portland, Oregon. I am depressed and I miss my husband and my former existance in India.

But it is the New Year..So I'll give it a shot. Gotta look good for my hubby when he comes!

I totally get that, Nutty. In Jordan I always lose a ton-- firstly bcause I have an iffy gall bladder, so I don't eat the same meat, meat, meat, fried, fried diet like they are-- I pick more... and secondly because I'm working and I'm going up and down a wadi maybe 4-6 times per day. That's a few miles and in a steep environment. works wonders on the fat!

same here... in NY i walked so much i could eat and maintain myself a lot better than CA. here i sit on my arse all day, walk to the car, sit in the car, walk to some place, and sit there.

*yawn!

I did low carb before and lost a lot of weight. Then I got married and let myself go. So I decided around the time of Ramadan that the time was now. So when my husband started fasting, I started my diet. I had read about this specific diet in Woman's World magazine and decided to give it a try. There was a one-time fee to join the website. I love the women I have gotten to know from it.

As with any low carb diet, you have an induction phase where it is only protein. That should be short lived (like a week or two at the tops). Then you add some lower carb fruits (berries and apples are great for this and my favorites) and some of the lower carb vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, greens, etc). Do I follow the diet precisely? No. I add in things when I crave them (no white objects or sweets though). The main thing I have found is portion control and, as strange as this may seem, eating enough calories to keep the weightloss going. There is nothing more eyeopening than entering your daily diet into fitday.com (and it is free). It keeps me honest with myself.

Twila

Lunch time! I'm going to take the stairs instead of the elevator!

Low carb and lots of water works good for me. Also sparkpeople.com If anyone wants to fire up a support group there, I am in. It's free and keeps me accountable.

How'd those stairs work for ya jenn?

J

I feel skinnier already!

I can already see the change in your face.

Indeed. The pounds are melting away.

Has anyone gotten into natural cheese? I noticed I use a ton less cheese (I love cheese more than I love family... ALMOST) if I use the organic cheddar (sans yellow dye). The flavor is just more potent. Cheese can be a problem for me.

I guess I'm in for now... mentioned to the hubby how if he keeps making me fatty foods and guilt tripping me into eating the entire plate (you shouldn't waste food and I made it for you ) I would be getting fat soon..... he told me to ride a bike to work NOT my favorite solution when I JUST FINALLY got a car

I'm on the seefood diet... I think everyone's familiar with it

here's a great healthy recipe i made for my clients. i love it! i think MENA husband's would like this also.

red snapper with thyme, tomatoes, and olives

Servings: Makes 2 servings.


3 large plum tomatoes, coarsely chopped
1 shallot, chopped
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 lemon slices REALLY thin
2 6- to 7-ounce red snapper fillets
10 Kalamata olives or other brine-cured black olives, pitted, halved
Freshly steamed rice (use brown rise or even quinoa)

Combine plum tomatoes, shallot, and chopped thyme in small bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cut 1 sheet of aluminum foil about 18 inches long. Place on work surface. Drizzle 1 tablespoon olive oil in center of aluminum foil. Place red snapper fillets side by side in center of aluminum foil. Top with sliced lemons, then tomato mixture. Sprinkle with olives. Drizzle fish with remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil. Fold foil over, enclosing contents completely and crimping edges tightly to seal. (Can be prepared up to 6 hours ahead; refrigerate.)
Preheat oven to 450°F. Place large baking sheet in oven and heat 10 minutes. Place foil packet on heated baking sheet. Bake until fish is opaque in center, about 15 minutes. Remove from oven; let stand 5 minutes. Open foil packet over bowl to catch juices. Serve fish with juices over rice or quinoa

Nutritional Information

Per serving: 407 calories, 21g fat (3g saturated), 80mg cholesterol, 333mg sodium, 8g carbohydrate, 1g fiber, 46g protein

*if you want to make this even less fattening i would put a teaspoon of really strong extra virgin olive oil instead of a tablespoon. for even less fat you could leave out the olives. (but i like them. hehe)

The Ghirardelli squares at my desk keep staring at me.

I hate them.

I just had 4 kisses (of the chocolate mint variety, not the romantic variety). I have a love/hate relationship w/ them. I, too have 30lbs to lose , 20 of which must go by May... Surely I can manage 5 lbs/month, right? I did a dance workout video this morning - it's a start.

You can have the squares! But you have to watch the rest.. The first week when I actually lsot 5 lbs, I was eating a salad for lunch/breakfast (which was lettuce, 2 tomatoes, and that's it!) and having a lowfat yogurt... and then just water (with flavor packets, I hate water). I would eat a stirfry for dinner which was one zuchini, one summer squash, one carrot, 2 cups of mushrooms, 6 leaves of nappa cabbage, one onion, 1/4 block of tofu, 2tbs of olive oil and 3tbs of soy sauce-- which eaqualed about 550 calories.. and then I had one soda. I realized I was nearly 500 calories short of my 1400 and I had to make it up with a guilty pleasure. i had a bit of chocolate.

LOL. I was just kidding about the chocolates.

Extreme diets don't work for me. I just need to get to the gym and just be a little more careful about portion size. Counting calories is the pits so I refuse to do it - that's no way to live!

i always begin counting until I have some rough idea about what I am eating.. and then I totally forget it My problem is if I don't count, when I switch back to eating healthy foods I tend to under-do not overdo.

I kinda follow weight watchers... but I did it for long enough to be able to guess on the points and keep track that way (sort of )

I did loose 60 pounds two years back when I was following it