Runners that need some nutritional accountability

Purplebunnysarah

Yeah, I'm pretty sure I'm an abstainer and not a moderator. I did low carb for most of a year and didn't slip up once (aside from a few pre-determined dates where I made a conscious choice to eat cake or whatever), lost 60-65 lbs total in that time. I've been calorie counting 'at a deficit' (aka punctuated by binges) for a year since I stopped low carb without restricting any macros and I've gained about 7 lbs total over that time (losing a bit, 8ish lbs and then regaining 15). So I need to try something else.

Elise4270

@sarahthes I feel ya. I need to try something else too.

I did so great, kinda and got so close to goal weight. Now I'm moments from being back at square one, er -5 if I can't figure this out.

fitoverfortymom

I abstain from certain triggers unless I know I can eat all of them. For example, say someone orders a large pizza. I know one slice fits my calories, but I will eat as many slices as are available to me. If I make a pizza at home with premade crust or frozen or whatever, I will make sure that I have the calories to eat the whole thing, because I know I can't leave any behind. Otherwise, I won't have it at all. I can have chips and cookies in the house, but I won't eat them, because I can't stop eating them. I tend to avoid those more than anything else.

So, I guess I can moderate until I can't.

I can plan and eat the meals I've planned and follow my calories to the letter. I've gotten pretty good at bulking up my calories so I'm satisfied and know what snacks I can lean-to if I really do need to eat more. For example, a protein bar = good whereas a candy bar for the same calories = bad.

I will literally go months of diet perfection and then just tank myself for 1-2 weeks.

Purplebunnysarah

Between breakfast and what I've brought to work I'm sitting at 58g net carbs for the day so far. I will be having dill baby potatoes with supper but because I've got a medium length run scheduled for this afternoon I'm also thinking about adding a bit more carbs to my afternoon snack. I am leaning towards 100g net carbs on non-running days and more (TBD) on running days, avoiding overly refined carb sources. So potatoes okay, potato chips on special occasions only.

I think the reason low carb worked well for me is it just removed entirely chips and crackers and cookies and cake and candy. Halo top isn't available here but I did find a store brand of no sugar added ice cream that was okay. I don't do well with sugar alcohols so that helped me moderate (serious negative reinforcement if I ate too much of it!).

7lenny7

I must be doing something right. Though my weight is on a roller coaster right now (10 pound range over the last 25 days) I'm currently sitting just a half pound above my "new me" low weight, and just 6.5 pounds above my ultimate goal. I don't know if it's my boycotting of cereal, better food choices, more activity, or a faulty scale, but I'm very happy. This progress is good motivation to keep it going and finally...FINALLY get to my 200 pound goal, and beyond. Hell yes!

Maybe it's our new instant pot. I've used it quite often so we're eating real food, not processed. We've only had it for a week and a half and I love it. Last weekend I made homemade skyr yogurt (Siggi's) and it turned out much better than when I made it on the stovetop. So good! Last night I experimented by mixing up some of my plain skyr with Sriracha sauce and OMG it was heaven!!! Think of a Sriracha aoli. I will be making this quite a bit. I'll have to try my skyr as a base for tuna salad too.

Speaking of cereal, I've abstained from it for a week now. Not one flake, crispy, crunch or cluster.

RunsOnEspresso

Ugh I typed out a big long response and hit the damn done button. I wish they'd change that stupid thing to like leave.

Anyway I basically said we all sound like abstainers. Its about knowing your triggers & abstaining from those, not everything.

fitoverfortymom

What have you done with the IP, @7lenny7 ? I just got one and am eager to try lots of things. I made steel cut oatmeal with great success, but a ground chuck roast and chili with marginal success. I'm super good with a slow cooker, so I hope the learning curve is quick on this one.

How did you get the calorie count for skyr in the IP? That's the one thing about trying to make Greek yogurt and the like is getting accurate calorie count.

Elise4270

Way to go @7lenny7 !!!! When we use our rice cooker, we lose weight. I do a small portion of rice quinoa mix, lots of veggies and lean turkey. Sometimes I add coconut milk/pineapple bits and it's so good.

@sarahthes I think low carb works for me for the same reason you mentioned, eliminating the chips. Before daily I'd come home and have nachos.. weigh or bother to count out the chips? Nah... Just pile it on and a hand full of cheese. When I was single, it came with beer. Mmmm....

@fitoverfortymom If I even keep it in the house, I'll eat it. The second I think about it, it's over. I may put it off an hour or so but I alwaya give in. Dh bought 2 large containers of Walmart bakery sugar/lemon cookies. I've not even looked at one. I've got the will power, I guess sometimes I just don't want use it and want that dumb handful of cookies. I've caught myself looking at then lately. So the plan is, if I find myself in them... I'm throwing it to the dogs because it's not food. My dogs love cookies.

I also think in the evening I'm thirsty and really need to drink some water. That has helped too. I kept a cup from Panera to fill with ice and water to encourage me to drink it. It works. I can even add frozen berries for a treat.

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I'm not off to a perfect see start. I had one piece of pizza today. Just one. I did have only one last night. I'm getting good at this! all have to do is plan. I noticed a few of the Olympic athletes mention that they we're glad it was over so they could eat (the sibling ice skaters) and shaun white mentioned watching his foods. I figure they expend so much, they'd never have to watch their choices. That's been inspiring for me. That's what dedication looks like. I'm not helpless in my food choices.

Elise4270

RunsOnEspresso wrote: »

Ugh I typed out a big long response and hit the damn done button. I wish they'd change that stupid thing to like leave.

Anyway I basically said we all sound like abstainers. Its about knowing your triggers & abstaining from those, not everything.

I've done the same thing several times. What I'd that done even for?

Purplebunnysarah

Those who have Instant Pots, do you get a lot of use out of them? We were torn between getting one and getting an Immersion Circulator (for sous vide) last fall and went with the immersion circulator. We are having a roast done sous vide tonight for supper to go with the dill potatoes. We do almost all of our meat sous vide now. It takes a long time for larger cuts but the taste and texture are amazing.

RunsOnEspresso

@Elise4270 I think it means you are done in the community because it takes you back to your home page. Maybe a home button would be better?

Elise4270

RunsOnEspresso wrote: »

@Elise4270 I think it means you are done in the community because it takes you back to your home page. Maybe a home button would be better?

I see. Ya it shouldn't be a thing on mobile. "Home" is a much better option.

I've never heard of these instant pots. I'm going to have to Google it. We're out of counter space, so it'd have to be worth replacing my rice cooker that cooks everything.

fitoverfortymom

I was grumpy at hubby this weekend for using up my two Crock Pots for cooking Boy Scout food for an upcoming camping trip, so I went to Kohl's and angry-bought an Instant Pot so I could do my meal prep for the week. Not knowing much more than it's an electric pressure cooker, I grabbed one off the shelf. When I got home and unbundled it, I realized I had purchased the mack-daddy of them all. It's pretty big (the DUO 80), but I like to cook a LOT of food at once and have leftovers and/or weekly meal prep so I'm really not too sad.

7lenny7

@fitoverfortymom a batch of skyr uses one gallon of skim milk, which is 1280 calories. At the end of the yogurt making process I ended up with 68 ounces of yogurt. If I assume all calories stayed with the yogurt, then that's 19 calories per ounce. Of course some of the calories are gone with the whey, but for my purposes, that's close enough. As a check, 5 ounces x 19 calories/ounce = 95 calories, which is right about what a 5oz Siggi's plain has.

@sarahthes I've only had this less than two weeks, and I was a big skeptic before hand, but I'm hooked. I love it. I wish we had this when we had all three kids at home.

So far I've made:

• soft boiled eggs - awesome, but I think I'd rather have fried eggs, sunny-side up.
• hard boiled eggs - A little easier than my normal method of steaming in a pot
• butternut squash - LOVE the IP for this! I'll never bake my winter squash again
• ham & split pea soup - I LOVE the IP for this! Amazing how quick this cooked. My wife said it was the best ham & split pea soup she's had.
• apple sauce - aMAZing! and so simple. Half granny smith, half honeycrisp, no sugar. My son said it was the best apple sauce he's ever had. Took maybe 15 minutes. He loves sour so the next batch will be all granny smith
• skyr yogurt (Siggi's) - better, and a lot easier, than my stovetop method.
• chicken & brown rice dish using frozen chicken thighs - the recipe was bland but the ability to use frozen chicken, without separate thawing, was huge. This ability is the key reason we bought this. Making GOOD meals quickly when we both work. Start to finish was about 45 minutes I think. Costco sells 10 pound bags of individually frozen chicken breasts. These will be a staple at our house now.
• grains (millet & farro) - we bought these whole grains for some recipe, a LONG time ago, but never used them again. I'm now using them up by cooking up enough for weekday breakfasts. One serving of grains, with two snotty fried eggs mashed in, salt, pepper and seasoning, make for a fantastic, filling breakfast. Today, using farro, I had a 366 calorie breakfast, and that kept me full until lunch.

I think tonight I'll try some chicken curry using chana dal (a type of split pea I think). I'm also looking forward to using the IP for cooking the venison and pheasant we have in our freezer. I also plan on making quinoa, steel cut oats, corned beef, ribs, and pot roast in it soon. And more apple sauce, and more yogurt.

Elise4270

They seem perdy cool. Maybe we should share some recipes with them? I looked them up, dh wanted one a few months back but I vetoed it because it's a pressure cooker. I remember stories of injury with the old style ones. I may reconsider getting one. I'd love to cook and freeze meals. We did that when the kids were little.

For now, I've put on a pot of curry turkey with sweet potato, pumpkin, onion, cauliflower, and will finish it off with coconut milk. My turkey was frozen and I forgot to separate it so I could puree the veggies.... So chunky turkey curry it is.

ETA @7lenny7 wow you have conqured that IP!

7lenny7

@Elise4270 these electric pressure cookers have none of the concerns that the old stovetop units had. They can also be used as a slow cooker, rice cooker, yogurt maker, saute pan (though for just sauteing I'd use a regular saute pan. I use the IP for sauteing only when the sauteed ingredients go into whatever I'm making in the IP).

fitoverfortymom

This is what I do for steel cut oats and chia seeds: http://purebarre.com/blog/2016/01/09/slow-cooker-superfood-oatmeal/. I skip all the fruit stuff and just do the oats and chia seeds.

You could bulk it out and get away with adding at least another cup of liquid (almond milk or water).

It used to take me 6-7 hours in the slow cooker on warm. It took 40 minutes this weekend from the time I started weighing the ingredients to letting it cook. I tripled the recipe, set the minutes to 6, let it naturally depressurized for 20 minutes and then manually depressurize the rest of the way. I portioned it out into my bowls for the week and YUMMM. I add in sugar-free pancake syrup when I eat it.

7lenny7

I'm adding chips and crackers to the things I'm giving up for Lent. The only exception is when we have wine, cheese and crackers.

7lenny7

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/20/well/eat/counting-calories-weight-loss-diet-dieting-low-carb-low-fat.html

That may be behind a pay wall.

7lenny7

Let me know if you can read this instead:

https://getpocket.com/a/read/2082054603

Here are some of the highlights:

Anyone who has ever been on a diet knows that the standard prescription for weight loss is to reduce the amount of calories you consume.

But a new study, published Tuesday in JAMA, may turn that advice on its head. It found that people who cut back on added sugar, refined grains and highly processed foods while concentrating on eating plenty of vegetables and whole foods — without worrying about counting calories or limiting portion sizes — lost significant amounts of weight over the course of a year.

The strategy worked for people whether they followed diets that were mostly low in fat or mostly low in carbohydrates. And their success did not appear to be influenced by their genetics or their insulin-response to carbohydrates, a finding that casts doubt on the increasingly popular idea that different diets should be recommended to people based on their DNA makeup or on their tolerance for carbs or fat.

The research lends strong support to the notion that diet quality, not quantity, is what helps people lose and manage their weight most easily in the long run. It also suggests that health authorities should shift away from telling the public to obsess over calories and instead encourage Americans to avoid processed foods that are made with refined starches and added sugar, like bagels, white bread, refined flour and sugary snacks and beverages, said Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian, a cardiologist and dean of the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University.

...the new study found that after one year of focusing on food quality, not calories, the two groups lost substantial amounts of weight. On average, the members of the low-carb group lost just over 13 pounds, while those in the low-fat group lost about 11.7 pounds. Both groups also saw improvements in other health markers, like reductions in their waist sizes, body fat, and blood sugar and blood pressure levels.

“The bottom line: Diet quality is important for both weight control and long-term well-being,” he said.

Dr. Gardner said it is not that calories don’t matter. After all, both groups ultimately ended up consuming fewer calories on average by the end of the study, even though they were not conscious of it. The point is that they did this by focusing on nutritious whole foods that satisfied their hunger.

“I think one place we go wrong is telling people to figure out how many calories they eat and then telling them to cut back on 500 calories, which makes them miserable,” he said. “We really need to focus on that foundational diet, which is more vegetables, more whole foods, less added sugar and less refined grains.”

Purplebunnysarah

150ish g net carbs yesterday (with a 7km run). 146g protein. 56g fibre. I ate every single one of my exercise calories and by random chance ended the day with exactly 0 calories left. Hunger was a bit high yesterday during the day but able to be kept in check with sensible snacking in the evening. I also had ice cream. I ate it out of the measuring cup to save on dishes...

We will see how today goes. I had oatmeal and a hash brown for breakfast (from Tim Hortons), and lunch is leftover roast beef and roasted potatoes with some fresh vegetables. Supper is planned to be paninis.

Elise4270

Love the article @7lenny7 ! I thought about moving away from calorie counting, as long as I ate real food. I dismissed it, because figure I wouldn't be be eating less. I can't seem to tolerate the idea of vegetables right now. Obviously that's the direction I need to be moving towards.

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I think I should take some pain killers. I seem to get down with daily pain and terrible nights results in no motivation. I bailed on PT today. Today's the anniversary of my dad's death. We we're not close. But I'm a bit superstitious today. I don't want to make that long drive in 32° wet conditions. Oddness. He died of complications that come with being an alcoholic. Not icy roads.

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I'm going to fess up. I ate cookies. It was a conscious choice. The woman's Olympic gold hockey game was on and I had no halo. I wanted to tv snack. I had popcorn (skinny girl). Then chose to eat cookies with the game. I have found a weakness. I must have acceptable snacks for good tv. I used to eat frozen blueberries, not sure why I didn't think of that.

I won't say who won in case anyone plans on watching it..... Like dh did when I was watching men's hockey... *kitten*.
He's down with the instant pot. I'm not sure when we'll get one.

I need to go swim today. I need to do better today.

ETA no swim. It's thundering, I'd guess that means lighting too. Bike it is. I got this.

Elise4270

@sarahthes wow! That super on the protein goal! I'm doing good to hit 100, with that I have to have a protein shake! Sound like you have your day planned!

Purplebunnysarah

@Elise4270 We had roast beef and I had a protein bar. And beef jerky. Wouldn't call it a typical day.

Yesterday was a bit hungrier, probably from running a longer distance 2 days in a row. -480 on the calories (i.e. maintenance), 200g net carbs, 48g fibre, 160g protein. Had a protein bar (Quest) and beef jerky to bring up the protein.

Today will be a lower exercise day (no running) so I'm working to keep calories and carbs down somewhat, although I'm ordering in Indian for supper. That means lower carb during the day and eating most of them in the evening.

shanaber

I have been away from here and the challenge page for too long... I miss you guys! I have read everything since I was last able to really be present here, last week I think. Work and life are just getting in the way. My daughter is having tough time and I seem to be on the phone with her all the time. Then I end up wanting to eat all the carbs and cookies as well as drink all the wine. I don't know that I ever 'emotionally' ate before and I really don't want to start now. Not good! So then I end up going the other way and skipping meals and my running and workouts end up suffering.

I am going to have to take a look at the Instant Pot - I had not heard of it before either. Seems like a great tool in the kitchen! I bought myself a covered and vented mug the other day because I thought it looked useful and then discovered that 'mug meals' are a thing. I hadn't heard of them before either but apparently they have been around for quite a while too, with cookbooks dedicated to them and lots of stuff on Pinterest which I use very infrequently.

A question for you all... do any of you cook for yourselves and someone who is diabetic? My husband was just put on medication because his testing was way out of line. His doctor wants us to meet with a nutritionist but I am wondering how to keep my carbs in without tempting him or flat out telling him he can't have any of what I am fixing for myself - seems a bit cruel to me. Note - this is the person who went to Marie Callenders and brought home a French apple pie. I like pie, I can't stand French Apple - it is just syrupy apples with a boatload of sugar on top. So he is left to eat it on his own which he doesn't need. He also bought the Girl Scout cookies that I have been so tempted by. I love the lemon ones! They are pretty much all gone now other than the packages I have put (hidden) away in the cupboard. I am hoping the nutritionist gets through to him and makes him realize he can't keep doing this.

In the question about moderator vs abstainer... I think I am a moderator. I can have food in the house and ignore it. Like the GS cookies and all the chocolate sitting in my desk that he bought me for Christmas. I might have a piece once in a while and when it gets too old I will toss what is left. I love dark chocolate and could totally eat it all but I won't and I won't let him have it.

@7lenny7 - great article. I love the idea of eating healthy and not logging but I thought I was eating pretty healthy before when I weighed so much. I don't think I would feel comfortable 'thinking' I am eating clean/healthy and discover I was again way overeating and gaining! It is my security blanket

fitoverfortymom

Aye carumba. Not a good day. Major carb binge (cookies, bagels, cereal). Not sure where this came from, and now I feel icky and stuffed, plus totally crashing.

7lenny7

That dang kid of mine opened up a new box of cereal! Something chocolaty and crunchy. Must... Resist...

BTW, I do have an exception my Lenten abstinence. Costco samples are always OK to eat.

For my road trip to KC I packed apples, clementines, protein bars and hard boiled eggs. Go me!

7lenny7

Full disclosure, I also packed beer and bourbon for after the race.

RunsOnEspresso

@shanaber I make mug egg whites a lot. Spray mug, pour in egg whites, add cheese, meat and veg. Micro for 1:30 stir, repeat. Usually then it's done. Top with herdez guacamole salsa.

Elise4270

@shanaber On the husband, shouldn't HE be responsible for his choices? There are knives in the house, that doesn't mean I can stab..... Things. I shouldn't have chocolate or peanut butter, that doesn't mean no one's else gets it. If it's in the house, it's up to me to not eat it. He's gonna eat it regardless of what's in the house, right?

It could give you both the opportunity to chose better carbs? Or you're gonna have to hide it?

There are guys at work that stop on the way to or from to eat what the wives won't allow. So.... I'd just try to work with him, find low sugar substitutes?

I tell mine to quit eating gas station food, but he doesn't. I find lottery tickets and candy wrappers in his truck all the time and I've forbidden those too. *Shrugs*

ETA I mean, I can go on and on and on at all the things I've told him not to do, for the sake of his health or consideration of other humans..... Deaf ears.