"Replacement" Foods

Lizzy622

I just got back down to my post pregnancy weight. After my 3rd child I became hypothyroid and was undiagnosed for 5 years. You may want to get check if your other efforts don't seem to be working. Some of the symptoms are dry skin, hair loss, tiredness (but it could be just having an infant) and confusion. I was later informed it often appears after pregnancy.

JoRocka

do you think protein is better than carbs? I read an article that said the more protein you eat, the harder your body works to break down the food which means more calories burned. What do you think about that. (p.s. I didn't gain the weight because i was in the mind set that i was eating for two...i gained it because i was stress eating...it was the first time i was out of work in five years...and i hate being stuck indoors which is what happened because it was winter).

I think protein is TONS better than carbs. only because I prefer bacon and steak to pasta and bread. So that's my personal perferance.

You definitely NEED protein- and it's as important if not more important for weight loss than it is for muscle gain.

I eat 40/40/20- I like having a lower carb diet. But you definitely need all three. I'm transitioning to another stage- and I'll have to up my carbs back up to help build- you need it- (I'm not happy about it)- but you definitely need it so don't short yourself!

You should aim for 1 gram of protein for lb of weight- typically they say lean body mass- but it's easy to just shoot for your body weight. so again- average woman- 150 lbs... go for 150 grams of protein.

it's a good rule of thumb- you cant' go wrong with it.

As for the stress eating- I can understand that. I was depressed for many years- I ate jelly beans all day- beans and rice at night- and worked out for hours. it wasn't healthy. LOL. There are a lot of physcological affects that drive us to want to eat- and believe you me- I ABSOLUTELY understand that... but it's vital (and this is not directed at you- but more of a hey universe) to know that it doesn't matter WHY we are eating- the why doesn't make us overweight- it's the over eating that makes us over eating. It's just all parts in a chain to understand. So no i wasn't trying to attack you- or blame you. Just establishing a chain of understanding. it helps to write it out- see it-read it- recognize it. As you understand that...

Like-
being unemployed made me depressed
deprressed makes me want to over eat
over eating made me fat.
being fat made me depressed...

and you see where it's going

so if I can back up the chain- and figure out what triggers it- what made me do X which made me do Y which made me ME right here right now??? then I can make progress.

It's very helpful to understand that when there are other mental aspects involved in the mix.

Hopefully that was helpful for you? again- I'm really not trying to be an *kitten*- just matter of fact. I want you to be successful- believe me- I do. I love watching people take charge and change themselves for better.

judyde

I just changed my weight loss goals to 1.5 pounds per week and it gave me over 400 more calories to eat per day. Thanks for the advice.

That's a good start, but just for comparison, I have set my goal to 1 pound per week and I have 50+ pounds to lose. I'm happy to lose it slowly. The slower you lose it, the longer you keep it off! Slow and steady wins the race. And I'm not starving and miserable.

I am also a BIG fan of pre-logging. Keep doing that.

deksgrl

1200 calroes works fine for me. I eat a nice breakfast a reasonable lunch and a smaller dinner. I have healtheir snacks ( strawberries/ banana peanut butter) compared to chips & soda as I was before. I am satisfied w/ the 1200 calories. it was hard at first, but now im used to it, and fell sick if I over eat. everyone is different. what works for one person wont work for nother. you just have to figure out your body & what works for you. At one point i started eating back my work out calories, and started gaining weght! So I realised that just didnt work for my body. Trial & error.

one thing the site does is add your workout calories to the amount you can eat for the day. I'm glad I read your posts. I should keep in mind that I'm not working out just so i can eat more

Taking too aggressive of a deficit (i.e. 1.5 pounds per week for someone only needing to lose 25 pounds) PLUS not eating back exercise calories, is not a healthy approach. Under eating will cause the stress hormone Cortisol. Cortisol will cause your body to not lose weight, and causes other health issues long term.

The person who said they gained weight when they ate exercise calories has some error in calculation going on or something else causing the weight gain.

It's simple math. MFP does not include exercise when it calculates your calorie needs, so when you exercise and eat those calories back, you are still maintaining that same calorie deficit, and will still lose the projected amount of weight.

Example:

A person whose calorie needs are 2,000 per day (not including exercise as MFP calculates it) and chooses "I want to lose 1 pound per week". To lose 1 pound per week, you need to take a 500 calorie per day deficit, and eat 1,500.

1,500 The amount MFP says to eat.
-300 The amount of calories burned in exercise.
+300 The amount of calories eaten to fuel the exercise.
= 1,500 You are still at a 500 calorie deficit.

If the person did not eat back exercise calories it would be:

1,500
-300
=1,200 This is now an 800 calorie deficit and the body will eventually show the effects of Cortisol. This is not healthy and cannot be sustained long term.

rhye

Baby carrots! I never liked them until, well, I genuinely gave them a try, and now I find they hit my sweet tooth perfectly. I brought a cookie and a bag of baby carrots to work and I just chose the baby carrots. Just because I WANTED THEM MORE. They looked so gorgeous in their orange goodness. Also, so so easy to grab on the fly and don't require a cooler to just chuck some in the diaper bag.

seltzermint555

Seems as if this thread went way off track early on.

I agree with most of the advice you've been given. But to answer your question about replacements...

Condiments are one area I really changed. I used to have about 10 different prepared salad dressings on hand and went through quite a bit of mayo, ketchup, mustard, etc.

I got rid of a bunch of stuff I really didn't need or like...relish for example, and hamburger slice pickles which are loaded with sodium. I switched to drastically reduced sodium soy sauce, Sriracha, and use other 'typical' condiments sparingly, paying attention to amounts carefully and measuring in most instances. I only have 1 bottle of prepared dressing (southwest chipotle) which is drizzled on my eggs most days. The rest of the time we make homemade dressing, eat salads dry, or make some of the salad toppings the 'dressing' (sautéed mushrooms and a few nuts on a bed of spinach, you don't need anything except maybe a drizzle of balsamic vinegar with that).

I no longer sauté things in butter, and I don't buy margarine. I got used to dry toast really quickly.

I used to want 'something sweet' following every meal and would have something, maybe a small cookie or whatever. Now I actually feel like I am eating more chocolate and stuff like that because I reserve it for a few times a week and work my calories around it. But I don't have those random little cookies in the house.

Just changing these lifelong habits has helped me a lot.

elsyoommen

another tip: pack a bunch of snacks and at least one meal for yourself the night before to bring to work the next day. Keep some of those snacks in your purse so that when you are tempted you can resist the high cal hit and take out the snack from your purse.

So each night, when I pack the lunches for my kids I pack myself the following: 2 small baggies of veg (usually celery, carrots, cucumbers), a wrap (ww tortilla with avocado, chicken, spinach and Dijon), 1 or 2 granola bars (Kashi dark chocolate cherry), 1 greek yogurt, a small container of berries (to go in the yogurt). This gets me through most of the work day. You also save money, not buying food out and you can log everything accurately since you will have made most of it yourself. I still go out for coffee sometimes with friends during the day, but I just get the coffee (and if I want something with it I have that granola bar in my purse).

I pack a few snacks in my purse when I go to the mall or other places with my kids too. (in addition to having stuff for them) - otherwise I end up eating too much at the food court with them.

now that you are a new mother you are probably going to think about bringing stuff for the baby everywhere with you anyway so just add some healthy snacks for yourself as well.