Discussion: loosing weight

I am jealous that you can loose weight like you do. You make it seem easy. What's your trick???

Eat nothing after dinner, and dinner itself is modest. So I'm definitely going to bed hungry. That's the key. The rest of the day, just don't worry about it, but still just eat in moderation.

Psychologically the hardest is at the beginning. Once I start seeing progress it gets a lot easier. The reward is that I feel better when I'm lighter.

Oh, and no junk food or much fat or these days any meat. But everything I do eat is delicious.

Sounds reasonable and healthy.
I usually don't eat between dinner and going to bed (mostly because we eat pretty late), so I can't change that, but I have been eating lightly for dinner and going to be really hungry. I have trouble falling asleep though, and end up sleep deprived.

But everything I do eat is delicious.

I think that part is really important. I always ask myself, "do I want to use up my calories on this?" A lot of the time just consciously answering that question "no" is enough to make me pass on it.

Another factor is how long it takes to eat. Do I want to use up my calories on something that gives only 10 seconds of pleasure (say, a chocolate truffle)? I've switched to See's lollipops at night that last for ten minutes each. (This is after the ice cream, which I also savor slowly.)

Speaking of savoring ice cream, Starbucks has come out with single serving ice cream containers (I don't have one handy so I can't tell you the exact size), $1 each, at least in my store. Automatic portion control (so you can't scoop out that little bit extra).

Of course, you have to like coffee ice cream. It happens to be my favorite flavor, so I'm good. :-)

coffee ice cream is also my favorite! :-)

Starbucks ice cream is really dangerous stuff. The problem I had with it is that it always came in single serving containers. The containers just had 32 oz.

I don't go to the grocery store all that often, but it seems that I couldn't be trusted there not to come back with either Starbucks Java Chip or an assortment of Ben & Jerry's treats. Now I have cultivated the ability to go visit Ben and Jerry when I go to the store, examine the various flavors they have, and then leave more or less contented without them.

Haagen Dazs and Ben & Jerry's are doing the same thing, also for a dollar. B&J has the most variety of flavors. The servings are small (less than 200 calories) but really quite satisfying. On the other hand, around here we also have Blue Bunny Personals with quite a few good flavors. Supposedly a "serving" is half the container although that's clearly at odds with the whole concept. Fortunately, they have a remarkably tasty light version: 240 calories for the whole thing (1 cup).

I should add, since it seems appropriate now that I am in wine country (Santa Rosa, CA), that I stave off the hungries in the evening with a little bit of a somewhat sweet sherry. Keeps me from succumbing to other temptations and if timed correctly, helps me get to sleep too, though 10 minutes with most any book at bedtime will almost always put me out.

The sherry, too, is delicious.

I might have to visit a liquor store this evening. And when I mention that aloud, Gail says she might have to go to an ice cream store, just to check the local availability of single-serving portions.

Kate and I use a glass of Tawny Port to the same affect.

Another solution is to move to Sweden where there is no Starbucks, and the imported B&J is so frightfully expensive that you immediately turn to the ICA brand sorbets. Cactus lemon (hummmm).
Sandra, if you have trouble sleeping, I have some wonderful academic articles for you (or you could read some policy documentation :-).
I need to get on the "drop some weight" bandwagon...Peter, does whiskey work as well as sherry? Jason has that in abundance. Oh yeah, and I could work out more (!!!).

Don't worry about it, eat more, run more......

potatoes!