[waves]

I didn't "report" progress sooner because it felt too unstable... now i feel like i have a good enough safety margin.

this is hard... been tailoring my food ever since i got my labs back. not trying to avoid anything i ate before 100% except any possible trans fats.

My parents have just bought icecream and my way of handling that living alone was just not buying it. i leave the room when they have it. i want to keep it as far away as possible. i know "diet-wise" i could handle a portion if i adjusted for it in other ways, but "mind-wise" i am pretty sure if i get even one spoonful, i'm done for... avoidance in same house is already a step more disciplined than not buying.

As far as adjustments, there are no major dietary changes as didn't eat much damaging stuff... i just overate, including fats. I have stopped responding to cravings and that was hard at first but then my appetite settled at a lower level, and i think that helped big time. At first i was just real tired and my weight didn't budge.

Content-wise I am mostly reducing ready carbs what i could (like in potatoes - i sometimes eat half a serving though). Sometimes drink my coffee unsweetened. (I despise substitutes.) Today i had iced coffee... WITH sugar though.

i hardly ate any bread before but where i did i now have WASA crisps mostly.

same with butter... didn't use it, so couldn't eliminate it. i occasionally eat stuff mom cooks with it, but she doesn't use it often either. I don't have much dairy at all, so left that alone. The most i have is milk in coffee, occasionally with cereal, occasional eggs, rarely cheese.

i am terrible about eating fruit, but i try to do what i can. we got some peaches which i like coz i will bite into them, pesticides or not! i hate having to cut up fruit. it helps i eat Indian pickle too which has green mango in it, green chili, lime and carrots, plus some good spices. It is in soyabean oil which is not as good as olive but it is fairly decent.

i do eat lots of veggies, raw and cooked. Extra tomatoes too, to partly compensate for the reduction in potatoes, which i often refuse, for now, when sauteed (YUMMMM )

I had planned to attempt exercise too... i but thwarted that, as you know, by messing up my foot. Stupid stupid stupid. Mostly to aid in shifting my HDL/LDL cholesterol balance a little - it is not awful but not great.

The one thing i REALLY need to work on... because i am BAD at this, is getting enough WATER!!!!

~ waves ~ with work in progress

[Mari]

OK.
I sort of took a break for the past few days or more.
I'll get back on the wagon soon.
My next step is to add exercise (light to start) to the mix.
I can do the limited caloric intake (just not the past few days) but I think I need exercise to feel better over all and to keep myself focused on a sensible goal.
I'll update you.

M.

[waves]

Dear Mari,

I agree about the exercising (although you are much better at it - overall - than i... going to gym at times, etc).

But i meant, as far as it helping to keep focused. It is one of the things i enjoy about running - it forces me to focus and puts me in a semi-meditative state, increases awareness of my body, etc.

And of course anything aerobic makes all those nice endorphins too.

and any type of working out makes me feel like "not spoiling the effects" by eating bad stuff, or, when i drank more alcohol, drinking. LOL.

Starting slow is always good. I wish you well in this, Mari!!!!

~ waves ~

[Dmom3005]

Interesting what Waves was saying

I've been reading up on somethings again. Need to stop reading I think.
But it seems that we are supposed to drink so much milk in our diet to
help. But that is just something I've picked up on lately. I'm working
on getting back on my diabetic carbohydrates diet plan. Not easy when
it seems I'm just not that much of a meat eater. And I'm supposed to
eat meat.

But fruit and I are getting along. And certain vegetables and I are too.
Wish I could get to like green beans better. That would be a great help.

But I just don't so I eat what I like. I am one that eats ice cream in
a small amount. I love the stuff, so its much better than wishing I could
and then eating a whole gallon one day.

Anyway, I've not gained any weight back, and I think if its really looked
at my scales say I've lost a small amount. But I need to lose more.

So I need to get back on my diet plan better. Its so weird not eating enough
has sabatoged my losing weight.

Donna

[waves]

Originally Posted by Dmom3005

I've been reading up on somethings again. Need to stop reading I think.

Yah... i've had that problem too... LOL.

Donna, wanted to comment on some other things you said too. And surely stick stuff in between, ROFL.

I do eat meat! I guess I made myself sound like a vegetarian! ROFL. Not that that is bad. But I think i had typed something then did a cut and never pasted. me and my stupid long posts!

Ok... I rarely eat red meat - like maybe 2ce a month. I eat chicken grilled about 1ce a week. I eat a lot of mackerel and tuna (both canned in oil), as well as fresh salmon steaks/filets or trout. Turkey and pork are good too, but we don't have them much.

Red meat is really where you get the most saturated fat (to be avoided). Lean, white meat has much much less. In the case of the fish above (all are blue fish) you get a good dose of omega-3 oils as well. However fresh tuna is better than canned because the canned stuff has most of the fat trimmed off.

My dairy btw comes almost entirely from what milk I have. I agree milk is good food! It has a lot of protein too as well as Calcium and Magnesium in the correct proportions! I would drink more milk but it makes me secrete more mucus which affects my voice (nothing to do with diet)! Milk actually has little fat in it really, even whole milk, compared to cheeses (especially soft ones like Brie (YUMMM!) or ... butter!

And Donna, re: the ice-cream, I see your point. But, I'm different. See, if i have a spoonful, i'm not likely to wait till tomorrow to go eat the rest of the gallon. THAT's my problem!!! I'm better off not getting the taste of it in my mouth. Then, I don't really miss it. Otherwise I start to crave it and crave it more and more and more... a snowball effect... or snowcone or... ehhh... you see? Now, if not having it makes you miss it a lot you feel deprived, that could indeed lead to binge, in which case, having some every so often does not hurt at all, and is a good strategy. We each have to do what works best for us.

----------------------
FATS

I do not scrimp on fats but am selective. For condiment we use olive oil exclusively. Same for cooking but for occasional use of butter. We never use margarine or shortening.

Fats are not good to scrimp on - they should only be reduced if one is getting excessive amounts or unhealthy ones. Fats are needed for proper intestinal function. Fiber absorbs some of the fat so it does not get absorbed into the body, so if you increase fiber, you automatically get less fat. We also need more water when we eat more fiber for the same reason. Fats are also essential for other biological functions such as building cell membranes.

-------------------

A general thing to point out. Right now i am trying to lose weight, not maintain.

For maintenance i have the following rules:
-- always eat when hungry (not just nibbly)
-- never eat when not hungry
-- stop eating when hunger stops (being full is too late)

Also, I am more flexible. I might have icecream if i go out, or a coke or other caloric drinks more often too, because i like them.

Right now, trying to lose weight, I am a bit pickier about what i have and more wary of amounts and balances, even though my appetite always varies, so i don't count calories. i still use hunger as an indicator, and eat slowly. contrarily to weight "maintenance," however i do not always eat when hungry ... but i do not starve myself either. it just depends how hungry i am.

--------------

Dieting is hard right now because of my family situation - i don't have full control on eating. Where i would sometimes like to scrimp the carbs from one thing as a trade for my 1ce a week beer, i come home to find that dinner has been changed on me -- to something with white rice (pure starch). Other examples might involve having cheese for lunch and then getting served eggs for dinner... or ending up having to have tuna three meals running.

i'll go'way now. thanks for listening and for your thoughtful response.

~ waves ~ (who would gladly wolf down a trans-fatty McD's cheeseburger right now )

[bizi]

I reads somewhere that we need 25-30 grams of fat a day.....30% of our diet.
so eat up those good fats olive oil, avacados...it is the hydroginated fats that are so bad for us along with the trans fat stuff with fried foods. I encourage each of you to be kind to yourself when placing these limitations on our eating and exercising.
no punishment allowed.
keep up healthy eating habits!
beth

[Mari]

Originally Posted by Dmom3005

I'm working
on getting back on my diabetic carbohydrates diet plan. Not easy when
it seems I'm just not that much of a meat eater. And I'm supposed to
eat meat.

Donna,
I think I see what you are talking about.
If you are strictly limiting carbs, then meat is easy to put on the plan because it has no carbs.

Originally Posted by Dmom3005

Its so weird not eating enough
has sabatoged my losing weight.

What are you saying here? Are you saying that you are not eating enough food?

Sometimes I wish that I could simply stay away from food and not bother with it at all -- kind of like I do with alchohol -- have a few sips at a party once a year or two. . . .

M.

[Mari]

Dear Waves and Bizi,

Thanks for the talk of healthy habits.

I don't know what to do with myself.

I'm feeling stressed I think.

M.

[bizi]

Dear Mari,
I amsorry that you are feeling stressed.
remember that protein helps to curb our food cravings because it can help to keep our blood sugars even.
I have tried to use the spray olive oil pam instead of straight olive oil when cooking saving calories. eating more veggies, using fat free italian dressing to stir fry chicken.
right now I have been NOT dieting. so need to get back on that horse when we get home.
beth

[waves]

Well today i slept all day and for dinner planned on having the lettuce + raw veggies left over from last night, with mackerel in olive oil.

mom came home with hamburgers. WORSE. vealburgers.

and there was me had been dreaming of wendy's.

at that point i even ate BREAD (usually just cut up burger on plate, no bread) and put a slice of CHEESE in there, and had myself a CHEESEBURGER.

I still had the salad of course. salt and a little olive oil on that is what we use.

btw... fwiw.... italian dressing is actually not what comes in those bottles, you know?

it is: oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper. not blended either. whoever tosses the salad puts each in at the last minute and tosses. (we now omit pepper and vinegar because one of us has tummy issues with them.) then the same condiments are put on the table in a special caddy with a niche for each (we do have all 4 on the table).

OCCASIONALLY... but NOT as a staple like in the bottled stuff, an herb or herb mix is used, and which depends on the type of salad. for plain green salad, no herbs are used.

BUT I DIGRESS.

JUST AS I DID FROM MY DIET. (have had red meat recently already... this was about the 3rd time this month!!!) and when you consider i had had a poached egg this morning before sleeping...

SO I'M OFF THE WAGON TOO.

~ waves ~ who napped and now needs an antacid...