A Work in Progress :-)
 

Hello Everyone!

I joined this site yesterday after a recommendation from a co-worker. I used to use the health and fitness site on MSN until they discontinued it last year. I am so excited about using this site to help me finally reach my goals.

All my life I have been overweight, as a kid they called me chunky, and as a young adult they called me "The big girl". I did manage to lose about 60 lbs in 2003 by doing atkins and Taebo, but gained it all back and then some. My problem is my obsession and addiction to bad carbohydrates. I love anything from the bread group and i pay for it dearly. I just need to find balance.

Any tips that anyone has to help me fight this dependence on bad carbs, feel free to share :-)

Happy Healthy Eating to everyone!

Welcome, shebababy! (Love the name.)

I don't know if I'm the right person to give advice about giving up carbs, but I too am a bread-oholic. It's never been a part of my fitness philosophy to cut out carbs, but one thing I'll do is try to always eat bread with a protein. I fill up faster that way and won't just crash and nosh more later. Another thing that's cut back on my bread dependence is learning to bake, counterintuitively enough. I love love love homebaked bread, so I won't buy second-rate bread from the store anymore. However, since my time is limited, I end up eating a lot less bread than I used to, but enjoying it a heck of a lot more when I do.

Hope that helps! Like I said, I too am a bread fan so take it with a grain of salt.

I switched my whole family over to 35 calorie/slice whole wheat bread. It's an easy switch and it saves all of us 100+ calories/day. It also helps to lessen the carb crashing that drives you back to the refrigerator.

The 35 cal. whole wheat is ok. I am not a wheat fan. But I use Wonder's Smart White.. 100 cal for 2 slices. It looks and tastes like white but it is indeed whole wheat.

Other than that, I am not a good one to ask about heathy carbs. I am working at it, and I know the facts.. any veggie/ whole grain/ fruit carb ( in essence any complex carb) is a fairly good one. And to avoid simple carbs ( most white foods.. taters, white breads, white rice, white flour etc., candy, sugars..) But knowing it and practicing it are 2 very different things :(

Good luck!

All through college I used to eat a lot of bread and pasta regularly but lately I've just left that alone. I'll still eat them on occasion, but most of my carbs now come from loads of vegetables, beans, and dairy (surprisingly high in carbs). Sweet potatoes are a good option because they are high in Vitamin A and minerals. I also cut back by saving dessert only on weekends. There's no need for a dessert after each meal. I'd say just by having a bit of discipline with desserts, you'll make pretty good progress on your carb control.

Thanks :-) Its nice to see that I am not the only one with this love of bread. I myself have never baked bread, but it may be something to try, I always wanted to buy one of those breadmakers. I guess denying myself a pleasure isn't the way to go, i just need to know when to say enough.

P.S. Glad you like the name, I am a die-hard Pam Grier fan.

Thanks for all the advice
 

Thanks to everybody for the recommendations and suggestions to help me reach my goals. I actually have tried both the 35 calorie bread and the wonder white whole grain bread. Both are decent, I guess I just need to learn to pull back. Well wish me luck in learning "moderation".

Everyone have a good weekend!