Diet tips for heavy carb addict?
Replies
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Sorry, call me the jerk here, but I have to say it. The first thing you should try changing is your attitude. You have a very negative attitude towards "healthy" or "clean" foods. If you continue to tell yourself all these negative things about how you DON'T like all these various foods, you will never grow to tolerate or like them. There is no short cut to healthy living. There is no pill that will keep weight off you for life, transforming your body into that of a healthy and fit individual. The only thing that works is to do the work, make the positive changes in your lifestyle, and strengthen your mind and body.
I tried this "substitute" game for a year or so before realizing that you can't pretend and be real at the same time. If I wanted to be healthy, lean and fit, I had to eat, train, and live like a healthy and fit person does....every day. Not on weekdays or all the months, except around my birthday, the holidays, my mom's birthday, my anniversary, my boss's retirement party, etc....life happens every day and you will be equiped with an excuse to CHOOSE to eat like crap every day if you want. Weigh out what you want more, to lose weight and be healthy, or to enjoy five minutes of pleasure that you get from eating carbs. I don't know about you, but I CHOSE life over food. Now, two years later.....there is no looking back. Buckle down, push through the cravings for a few weeks while your body detoxes, then live the next six months learning to build a new lifestyle. It will take patience, but it WILL be worth it. After the first six months....it gets easier every day. I promise. Good luck!
While I agree with your underlying point of dealing with SOME discomfort--on the surface it very much sounds like you're calling carbs "crap" which they most certainly aren't. I don't think that being healthy and fit entails cutting out an entire food group (starchy carbs)...they can easily fit into a healthy diet that a FIT person would eat to sustain their training. Most athletes (fit people) eat carbs--lots of them and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. While your intentions might be good here I just don't think you sent the message as well as you could have. To me the bottom line is that not eating carbs, "detoxing," and believing that being fit requires you to eat "like a fit person every day" is mentally unhealthy and exhausting. Getting to a place where you can have a potato, rice, pasta, or cereal and be done with it is HEALTHY...refusing to eat the foods you enjoy because you think that "fit people" give up their pleasures day in and day out is not. just my $.02.
You're absolutely right that my intentions were good, and my message was not understood correctly, I'm thinking. I wasn't calling all carbs crap. I was saying the type of carbs that the original poster mentioned were crap. (raviolis, pizza, alfredo pasta) Someone that wants to lose weight can't be trying to short cut weight loss efforts by replacing crap with imitation crap. Someone that is addicted to this type of crap (and sugar in general) usually needs to do a detox where they rid their body of the crap that makes them crave more crap. Otherwise, they are just living on straight will power (which is exhausting and unsustainable for life) and constantly fighting their own bodies. If they detox off this crap, then gradually learn (and like) to eat healthy and nutritous foods (including grains and other high performance, complex carbs) they can continue weight loss efforts in a way that is sustaninable for life and will allow for them to actually enjoy CHOOSING to eat healthy foods.0 -
You are actually a sugar addict. The body treats most carbs like sugar. Simple carbs like pasta are so refined and processed that your body gets a glucose spike, then you release insulin to bring down the glucose (belly fat) and you want more. If you start this process early in the morning you set yourself up to binge all day.
For breakfast have steel cut oats. Less processed and slower to digest. Eat some eggs.
Nothing will taste good until you give up the crappy carbs. Experiment with getting a different vege each week and google how to cook it. If you don't like veges, you aren't cooking them right or you aren't hungry enough. If you can fill your body with good nutrition, you will crave junk food less. Try to stick with plain meats, fruits and real veges.
I used to be a sugar holic and now I am gluten free and feel like a million bucks.
Pasta is a simple carb?
Flour and water. What more simple than that?0 -
I am .. maybe now used to be? the same carb addict as you...
what helped me is learning to cook. in the beginning I made all my favourite things like potatopasta (yes we have such a dish
), pasta with heavy cream sauce/alfredo style, large slices of bread with tons of butter and ham...
then I slowly noticed that if I put shrimps or chopped vegetables and herbs in that cream sauce it actually tasted better! there was a lot more variety to it, the taste more rainbowy, colorful, interesting. Then I started going down on the sauce and putting all kinds of stuff. Now I am down to not even liking dishes without any vegetables or find them dull.
I still cook with butter and cream and wine but use them moderately - measured and calculated - and half/two thirds of my pasta is shrimps or vegges or salmon or whatever I had in mind that day and it is not *swimming* in cream...
Same goes for the sandwiches. The bread became thinner, darker, then with seeds, just a little butter ,but more the topping - nice meat, fine gourmet cheese, lots of salad leaves, avocadoes, tomatoes... for me its all about the combination and the TASTE in the end.
A plain ham and cheese sandwich looks now dry and dull to me. Put in a ton of cucumbers and tomatoes and whatnot and it just melts in my mouth
you can do it - gradually. no need to chew on leaves and dry chicken breast. just watch the amounts. 0 -
It’s hard to feel like you cannot eat anything that you like!
For me the burn out was turkey, can’t tolerate eating it anymore.
I had to step out of my comfort zone and try NEW things….some were great and some horrible, but there is SO much food out there.
I consider myself a carb junkie as well, but I’ve switched to whole grain pasta – they don’t really hold less calories but they are better for you and more filling.
It’s also a good rule to consider eating your pasta not as a meal or the main course but as a side.
I’ve also started to mix stuff in with my pasta (like veggies, or shrimp) it is more filling and a nice change – plus I eat less noodles if there’s a bunch of other stuff mixed in.
You can also stop eating on large plates – a smaller one will fool the eye and make your food look like a much larger portion.
When I eat out – I box up half of the meal right away to eat later.
Drinking water has helped me more than any other thing while trying to lose weight – it was hard to get use to, but really after a few weeks it was easy.
I also got really tired of salads….so I just don’t eat them very often anymore – caught myself craving one the other day and was shocked.
You can find meals that are healthy and it doesn’t have to be rabbit food.
I eat a lot of baked or grilled pork – I choose lean cuts and find news way to cook them – I guess pork is my new chicken. I found a new love for salmon and other fish.
Don’t give up.
If you’re really committed to this – I’d suggest just trying to find things that you do like, instead of forcing yourself to eat things you don’t.
Being deprived doesn’t work for me, and it’s the reason a lot of ppl give up.
Maybe you can start w/ smaller portions – or limiting yourself to a certain about of carbs/pasta daily or weekly – until you expand your diet and find other things you like.
I wish you all the best!0 -
You are actually a sugar addict. The body treats most carbs like sugar. Simple carbs like pasta are so refined and processed that your body gets a glucose spike, then you release insulin to bring down the glucose (belly fat) and you want more. If you start this process early in the morning you set yourself up to binge all day.
For breakfast have steel cut oats. Less processed and slower to digest. Eat some eggs.
Nothing will taste good until you give up the crappy carbs. Experiment with getting a different vege each week and google how to cook it. If you don't like veges, you aren't cooking them right or you aren't hungry enough. If you can fill your body with good nutrition, you will crave junk food less. Try to stick with plain meats, fruits and real veges.
I used to be a sugar holic and now I am gluten free and feel like a million bucks.
Pasta is a simple carb?
Flour and water. What more simple than that?
No egg or salt in yours, maybe a little olive oil?0 -
You are actually a sugar addict. The body treats most carbs like sugar. Simple carbs like pasta are so refined and processed that your body gets a glucose spike, then you release insulin to bring down the glucose (belly fat) and you want more. If you start this process early in the morning you set yourself up to binge all day.
For breakfast have steel cut oats. Less processed and slower to digest. Eat some eggs.
Nothing will taste good until you give up the crappy carbs. Experiment with getting a different vege each week and google how to cook it. If you don't like veges, you aren't cooking them right or you aren't hungry enough. If you can fill your body with good nutrition, you will crave junk food less. Try to stick with plain meats, fruits and real veges.
I used to be a sugar holic and now I am gluten free and feel like a million bucks.
Pasta is a simple carb?
Flour and water. What more simple than that?
No egg or salt in yours, maybe a little olive oil?
I don't make my own. What a mess!0 -
You are actually a sugar addict. The body treats most carbs like sugar. Simple carbs like pasta are so refined and processed that your body gets a glucose spike, then you release insulin to bring down the glucose (belly fat) and you want more. If you start this process early in the morning you set yourself up to binge all day.
For breakfast have steel cut oats. Less processed and slower to digest. Eat some eggs.
Nothing will taste good until you give up the crappy carbs. Experiment with getting a different vege each week and google how to cook it. If you don't like veges, you aren't cooking them right or you aren't hungry enough. If you can fill your body with good nutrition, you will crave junk food less. Try to stick with plain meats, fruits and real veges.
I used to be a sugar holic and now I am gluten free and feel like a million bucks.
Pasta is a simple carb?
Flour and water. What more simple than that?
No egg or salt in yours, maybe a little olive oil?
I don't make my own. What a mess!
Not really, pile of flour, make a well and mix it together and knead0 -
Another vote for this approach: start logging everything that you eat. Don't try to change anything at first, don't try to be good, just weigh or measure everything you eat and log it. If you can, print these out at the end of the day. After a week or two, look over your meals and choose one thing to change. Just one. Maybe it will be to cut your servings of pasta down by 1/2 cup per meal. Whatever. One step at a time.
I'm finding it easier to live with making my changes small and keeping things simple. On 1/1/2009, I weighed 207. Now I weigh 185. Everybody wants faster results. I want faster results. However, I am not ready to throw away everything in the cupboards and go buy all new stuff, especially since my husband and son and son's girlfriend live and eat here, too. We have to do what we can do and never-ever give up. That's the key.0 -
You are actually a sugar addict. The body treats most carbs like sugar. Simple carbs like pasta are so refined and processed that your body gets a glucose spike, then you release insulin to bring down the glucose (belly fat) and you want more. If you start this process early in the morning you set yourself up to binge all day.
For breakfast have steel cut oats. Less processed and slower to digest. Eat some eggs.
Nothing will taste good until you give up the crappy carbs. Experiment with getting a different vege each week and google how to cook it. If you don't like veges, you aren't cooking them right or you aren't hungry enough. If you can fill your body with good nutrition, you will crave junk food less. Try to stick with plain meats, fruits and real veges.
I used to be a sugar holic and now I am gluten free and feel like a million bucks.
Pasta is a simple carb?
Flour and water. What more simple than that?
No egg or salt in yours, maybe a little olive oil?
I don't make my own. What a mess!
Not really, pile of flour, make a well and mix it together and knead
Clearly you've never seen me with a pile of flour.0 -
I had to cut mine completely, I let myself have a run on as much salad as I could shove into my mouth for the first few days. I didn't count calories (I logged them, but didn't pay attention). After a couple weeks, I felt worlds better. No more sugar and carb comas. I had energy when I woke up. I don't have lulles of energy during the day and no longer have to stifle a yawn in the middle of a meeting (TOO embarrasing!!!).
I no longer crave pasta and bread. I can now even stock it in my house and I have zero temptation (I started August 2012). When I occasionally make pasta (about every 3rd week) I use brown rice pasta and very little sauce. My sause is usually loaded with chopped chicken and chopped mixed veggies. Even then, I can taste the salt content of the pasta and will sometimes just premix my meat/veggies on the side and leave the meat/veggie/sause mix for the kids.
Salty food just irritates me now and makes my stomach hurt or feel thirsty. And this is coming from a McDonalds french fry queen. I could have eaten fries every day for the rest of my life before.
If you don't like veggies, hide them in your food. I chop the heck out of them and put them in the blender in the beginning. Now I have huge hunks of them because I'm used to prepping them every day for every meal.
I haven't found a way to eat pasta and lose weight honestly. A lot of people will say eat in small, SMALL quanities. I would start that way then. I had to quit cold turkey because I had a love affair with pasta. Now I could care less.
Cheers!0 -
There's this thing here in the frozen foods section. It's basically 400g of vegetables, comes in whatever flavor, and a little baggie of paste that's basically the seasoning. You're supposed to just put it all in a pot with water for 20 minutes and boom soup. I usually put some of the veggies in the blender then add them back plus a bit more veggies(in this case peas and one potato, or beans) plus some extra seasoning if needed, turns out pretty good. I'm not sure if this is actually a decent healthy food option though. I did lose a few lbs since I started making these but it's not a huge amount and I'm not sure if it's not junk as well.
As for pasta I've gone down to eating it much less. Instead of every day I've gone down to 3-4 times a week, and instead of eating chocolate and fatty ice cream I just occasionally have one of those fruit sorbet low fat pops if I need something sweet(package says 72 calories per pop) every now and then. Not much change in weight though so my brain must be tricking me into thinking I'm lowering portion size when I'm not or I'm doing something wrong in general.0 -
Maybe it has to do with not being exposed to healthy/clean foods that are good. Up until now all anyone has ever had to offer me is tasteless salads and chicken breast/fish or something along those lines, then get the whole "are you crazy? these things are the tastiest things ever, this just proves more that there's something really wrong with you". Also been taught that any salad dressing that isn't straight up vinegar, <2 spoons of olive oil and lemon juice is bad and should be avoided.
I've had some REALLY good salads, but they tend to have something like peanuts in them and then I get the whole "you're only lying to yourself" thing.
Btw could isnomnia/anxiety and depression medication have something to do with it? I've been on plenty of those ever since I was 18 and lately I've been on a whole lot more types of pills than I was in the past.
Funnily enough I have all those three conditions and have taken different prescription medications for a decade. Been drug free a few months and having the best winter in a few years (seasonal affective disorder). Best treatment was completely overhauling my lifestyle so that I exercised regularly and intensively, ate a clean diet containing a ton of the nutrients known to be implicated in mental wellbeing (long chain omega-3s, B vitamins, vitamin D, magnesium, zinc and so on), reduced/ stopped the hardcore partying. I can assure you I did not like healthy foods when I started out, despite being raised on them. I was gagging the first time I opened a can of pink salmon.
Meds can change your appetite and some are linked with nutrient deficiencies. Self medicating with food - especially sugary fatty or high GI carbs - is not uncommon it triggers endorphins but this can worsen both anxiety and depression. It's much the same as self medicating with alcohol, illicit drugs or tobacco all of which are common in those with mental health issues. Since I've retrained to work in lifestyle healthcare I've seen lifestyle modification work for many clients with a disorder of mental health, the thing is prescribed meds are a treatment only the medical profession is not going to cure you, either you have to 'cure' yourself or learn to manage your conditions. There are nasty side effects to a cocktail of prescribed drugs, the main side effects of nutrition and exercise are increased self confidence, looking hotter, feeling more energetic, long term improved health!!
I like strong tasting foods so salads are not my first choice for eating healthy. If I do have them I don't necessarily have leaves sometimes they are just salad veggies and beans, often add a little fresh or dried fruit, aim to have two different proteins one of which is salty (bacon, air dried ham, cheese), different textures like avocado or seeds, dressings like balsamic vinegar or lime juice and red chilli. Or I make my own chunky coleslaw (red cabbage, red onion, carrot shavings) with cheese, with a second salad like chicken waldorf (celery, apple, black grape, walnut, low fat soft cheese or yoghurt). Does any of that sound good to you?
Many oily fish are strong flavoured and are far more nutritious than bland white fish or bland chicken breast. neither of which I waste my calories on0 -
I'm not sure if this is actually a decent healthy food option though.... I'm doing something wrong in general.
If I could wave a magic wand, I'd have you stop looking at the scale and thinking of some certain food as "good" and that eating some other food is making you "bad" or doing something "wrong." IF I WERE YOU (and I WAS you from 1991-2006) I'd focus on finding someone that can help you learn how to read labels and figure out what they really mean for YOUR health and how they will effect YOUR mood and sleep and feelings.
We all start the journey from different places. The important thing is to get on the path towards YOUR healthy place. Sure, you'll take a few step backwards here or there and have to switch paths now and then, but the important thing is taking control of your own health and make choices, not default to eating something because someone else told you to or told you not to.0 -
He is lazy and cheap and will generally eat anything I put in the fridge. If it's healthy food he takes it all and makes it into some kind of nasty slop(which I later have to clean) to impress his gf. Then he denies taking my food even if I obviously know he did.
I've tried locking things in my room but he just breaks in and takes it anyway.
I've confronted him about this and he has no idea he's done anything wrong. He agreed we should both buy food separately but then he takes things when he thinks I won't notice. When I got mad at him for breaking into my room the first time he didn't understand what the problem was and just said that if I have an issue with it I should just give him his half of my stuff so he wouldn't need to come into my room. A huge douche silo indeed.
I'd either booby trap the food with laxatives or leave stuff you know is bad and will make them both sick, like prawns/ shrimp or raw chicken or milk that were out of the refrigerator for a week and then back in .... Booby trap the room or just call the police whenever my room got broken into and my property stolen. Let him get a criminal record, let him get a restraining order and have to move if he threatens you. Once the criminal activity is on police record I'd write and ask the landlord to evict him.0 -
It's a bit hard with the constant wall of criticism. I get the "[x] is bad [y] is good, stop eating eat less eat this don't eat that you're fat do I really need to take a picture of you to show you how horrid you look weight is all that matters and you need to lose some fast" thing about 10x a day at least.
I'll try to find someone who can help, possibly there are options on the internet for free since I'm broke and my parents refuse to pay for any diet related counselling since apparently "I'm incapable of understanding that I have a problem and am too grossly fat to ever be capable of mustering up the will power to go through with it without it being a waste of money". I'll try finding an internet manual for reading labels and start from there.
Also, avocados and seeds etc. are ok for diets? They have a lot of calories and people generally tell me to stay the hell away from those, or not eat more than 20g at a time for instance.
It would also help if everything wasn't so damn expensive here. The more healthy stuff costs insane amount of money(ex. 15$ for 500g of whole wheat pasta, 8$ for a head of lettuce, 10$ for a small box of healthy cereal with fibers etc.) for someone who has to live for a month on 500$ per month.0 -
If you truly think you are an addict then you should try completely cutting out your drug of choice. I did and I feel AMAZZZZZZZZING. TRY IT. After a month without any wheat products I feel completely rejuvenated and it's so much easier to stick to my calories.
flour products were like CRACK to me. I mean I really felt like a drug addict. Pizza, breads, pasta.. you name it I wanted it in my belly. It didn't matter if it was whole grain or refined, I wanted all the wheat things. I couldn't succeed by simply reducing my portions because I just wanted more and more. I would even eat straight boiled cracked wheat for breakfast! I went cold turkey and for the first few days I thought I would starve to death... or perhaps murder someone, but by day four I started feeling much better and now I feel like a new person!
I'm not saying that everyone should do this, but if what you're saying is true and you're really addicted to these products, then try eliminating them and see what happens.
What types of things did you eat?0 -
constant wall of criticism. I get the "[x] is bad [y] is good, stop eating eat less eat this don't eat that you're fat do I really need to take a picture of you to show you how horrid you look weight is all that matters and you need to lose some fast" thing about 10x a day at least.
What you most need is some positive, supportive forces in your life. Surround yourself with real life and internet friends who are supportive and don't spew such nonsense at you. Labels in the EU (or wherever you are) are different than they are here in the states, so I personally don't know how they differ. Do you have "health food stores" where you live? Maybe they offer free nutrition classes. Ours here do. Or just go there and talk to the clerks. Offer to buy them a cup of tea or whatever. They might become your new best friends.
Just my opinion of course, but if your parents are really telling you this, then that is because THEY feel like failures and are blaming YOU for their own failures (many of which have nothing to do with you and your weight or mood problems, ok?). Be the more enlightened adult, and don't let their misplaced emotions effect how YOU feel about YOURSELF. Anything they say that sounds like criticism or negative feedback, let them say it and have their peace, but then just let it go. It shouldn't effect how YOU feel about YOURSELF. My bet is they want YOU to feel bad so THEY feel better. Do yourself a favor and don't play that game with people and let their negativity affect you.0 -
Maybe you should find some veggies and ways of cooking vegetables that you love. I've had lots of my kids' friends come over to our house and then RAVE to their mothers about the yummy beets and brussel sprouts we serve. Because they'd always had them cookied badly and had no idea that they could taste good.
Finding ways of making veggeis that you like would give you more choices so you could eat fewer carbs and more protein and carbs.
So I would suggest buying a yummy cookbook that specializes in veggies and just trying a different recipe for veggies every night for a few weeks. Eat whatever else you normally eat, but include one new veggie recipe.
Jamie Oliver is definitely not low fat, but he has amazing veggies. Try out some of his recipes (http://www.jamieoliver.com/homecookingskills). Once you find things you like, you can start dropping down those carbs.0 -
He is lazy and cheap and will generally eat anything I put in the fridge. If it's healthy food he takes it all and makes it into some kind of nasty slop(which I later have to clean) to impress his gf. Then he denies taking my food even if I obviously know he did.
I've tried locking things in my room but he just breaks in and takes it anyway.
I've confronted him about this and he has no idea he's done anything wrong. He agreed we should both buy food separately but then he takes things when he thinks I won't notice. When I got mad at him for breaking into my room the first time he didn't understand what the problem was and just said that if I have an issue with it I should just give him his half of my stuff so he wouldn't need to come into my room. A huge douche silo indeed.
I'd either booby trap the food with laxatives or leave stuff you know is bad and will make them both sick, like prawns/ shrimp or raw chicken or milk that were out of the refrigerator for a week and then back in .... Booby trap the room or just call the police whenever my room got broken into and my property stolen. Let him get a criminal record, let him get a restraining order and have to move if he threatens you. Once the criminal activity is on police record I'd write and ask the landlord to evict him.
The landlord loves him. He's one of those people who have this phony niceness so when you talk to them they seem like cool down to earth people until you see their real side. Somehow even though I was the first to move in to the apartment the landlord refers to him for everything and whenever I try to complain about everything he just goes "[douchebaggio] said this so I don't know what your problem is. Recently they switched the key to the building, landlord gave him the one key which he then hoarded for himself and disappeared for a week so that I couldn't get in unless someone else walked by, and when I got mad he got pissed at me and told me not to give him orders and that he doesn't work for me.
I can't call the police since the city my university is in is rather sketchy, so the police have plenty more important things to do than take care of someone stealing food, toilet paper and <20$ while smoking all over the apartment(and my room) despite the fact that it makes me sick. They have enough stabbings/drug dealers to deal with before they can deal with ****ty roommates.
I guess I could report the fact that he's 25 and has been dating and sleeping with his 18 year old gf for 4 years since she was 14, but whether or not that's a good idea I'd still need solid proof for that to work.
Currently put an ad up for someone to replace me for the remainder of the lease, but everyone that's come by can't get over how bad he smells. Meh.
I actually got really pissed at him and the whole time he was all "lets be mature and not make a big deal out of this, with proper communication we can enjoy living together, please don't blame the entire world for your problems". So basically he wins the argument and I'm a petty child while he's supposedly "mature".
So far besides stealing food and breaking into my room he has also decided to crap in my bathroom(we each have our own bathroom in our rooms), not flush and leave it to fester for the entire weekend until I come back and have to clean it up because he's nowhere to be found. Also not letting me use shared spaces like the kitchen and living room because he and his girlfriend who lives there without paying rent want some privacy, having guests over well after 2 am and making noise despite the fact that I have 8 am classes and generally making a huge mess of the kitchen and living room and expecting me to clean up after him.
*tried booby trapping with hot sauce, didn't work, apparently it's a traditional food ingredient for his ethnicity or something so he just ate more.0 -
If you truly think you are an addict then you should try completely cutting out your drug of choice. I did and I feel AMAZZZZZZZZING. TRY IT. After a month without any wheat products I feel completely rejuvenated and it's so much easier to stick to my calories.
flour products were like CRACK to me. I mean I really felt like a drug addict. Pizza, breads, pasta.. you name it I wanted it in my belly. It didn't matter if it was whole grain or refined, I wanted all the wheat things. I couldn't succeed by simply reducing my portions because I just wanted more and more. I would even eat straight boiled cracked wheat for breakfast! I went cold turkey and for the first few days I thought I would starve to death... or perhaps murder someone, but by day four I started feeling much better and now I feel like a new person!
I'm not saying that everyone should do this, but if what you're saying is true and you're really addicted to these products, then try eliminating them and see what happens.
What types of things did you eat?
Before: sandwiches on whole grain bread, wheat pasta, cracked wheat, pizza, pies, cakes, pita bread and hummus, beans of all sorts wheat thins, also lots of veggies, lots of salads, green juices, meats,poultry....
Now: meat, fish, poultry, protein shakes, green juices, salads, eggs, I'm currently not eating legumes or any cereal grains, but I plan to reintroduce legumes in the future. They weren't a "problem" for me as far as feeling addicted to them, but I'd just rather get my carbs from veggies and my proteins from meats/dairy right now in order to save on calories.0 -
It's a bit hard with the constant wall of criticism. I get the "[x] is bad [y] is good, stop eating eat less eat this don't eat that you're fat do I really need to take a picture of you to show you how horrid you look weight is all that matters and you need to lose some fast" thing about 10x a day at least.
I'll try to find someone who can help, possibly there are options on the internet for free since I'm broke and my parents refuse to pay for any diet related counselling since apparently "I'm incapable of understanding that I have a problem and am too grossly fat to ever be capable of mustering up the will power to go through with it without it being a waste of money". I'll try finding an internet manual for reading labels and start from there.
Also, avocados and seeds etc. are ok for diets? They have a lot of calories and people generally tell me to stay the hell away from those, or not eat more than 20g at a time for instance.
It would also help if everything wasn't so damn expensive here. The more healthy stuff costs insane amount of money(ex. 15$ for 500g of whole wheat pasta, 8$ for a head of lettuce, 10$ for a small box of healthy cereal with fibers etc.) for someone who has to live for a month on 500$ per month.
There are a ton of good sources of nutrition and dietetics information online, some good free podcasts like the 'Smarter Science of Slim' series, several of the MFPers hold qualifications in nutrition/ dietietics/ fitness/ lifestyle healthcare. I would be more than happy for you to message me. But you have to get out of that place where you make excuse after excuse and put up barrier after barrier. Find a way to be more open minded and more positive and proactive about looking for solutions. Plenty of people live on tight budgets, plenty of people live in areas where the food selection is not the best or the cheapest, plenty of people have busy lifestyles.
There are also a ton of threads on eating healthily on a budget if you run a search. There is wide variation in the cost per 100g/ per serving of different produce, stuff with a short shelf life (soft or juicy that easily gets attacked by insects or fungus or starts spoiling) tends to be pricey, stuff that is dried, some canned, frozen, naturally longlife (root veggies) or in season tends to be cheaper. If you have outside space maybe buy some seeds and grow a few things or track down others that are doing this locally and get involved. Go to different stores, markets and ethnic grocers.
Wheat products are expensive here in the UK too, so don't buy products buy ingredients and prepare your own foods. Modern wheat flour is very finely ground and fast digesting (turns to blood glucose quickly) anyway. Foods that are naturally rich in fibre include all fruit and veggies, all beans and lentils, all nuts and seeds, all wholegrains. Here in the UK some of the cheapest starchy carbs are dried beans, dried lentils and barley, all of which are gentle on the blood sugar.
"Studies consistently show the beneficial effects of eating nuts, but as high-energy foods, their regular consumption may lead to weight gain. We tested if daily consumption of walnuts (approximately 12 % energy intake) for 6 months would modify body weight and body composition in free-living subjects. Ninety participants in a 12-month randomized cross-over trial were instructed to eat an allotted amount of walnuts (28-56 g) during the walnut-supplemented diet and not to eat them during the control diet, with no further instruction. Subjects were unaware that body weight was the main outcome. Dietary compliance was about 95 % and mean daily walnut consumption was 35 g during the walnut-supplemented diet. The walnut-supplemented diet resulted in greater daily energy intake (557 kJ (133 kcal)), which should theoretically have led to a weight gain of 3.1 kg over the 6-month period. For all participants, walnut supplementation increased weight (0.4 (se 0.1) kg), BMI (0.2 (se 0.1) kg/m(2)), fat mass (0.2 (se 0.1) kg) and lean mass (0.2 (se 0.1) kg). But, after adjusting for energy differences between the control and walnut-supplemented diets, no significant differences were observed in body weight or body composition parameters, except for BMI (0.1 (se 0.1) kg/m(2)). The weight gain from incorporating walnuts into the diet (control-->walnut sequence) was less than the weight loss from withdrawing walnuts from the diet (walnut-->control sequence). Our findings show that regular walnut intake resulted in weight gain much lower than expected and which became non-significant after controlling for differences in energy intake."
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16277792
"Frequent nut consumption is associated with lower rates of coronary artery disease (CAD). Also, nut-rich diets improve the serum lipid profile of participants in dietary intervention trials. However, nuts are fatty foods, and in theory their regular consumption may lead to body weight gain. Because obesity is a major public health problem and a risk factor for CAD, clinicians and policy makers ponder several questions. Will hypercholesterolemic patients advised to consume nuts gain weight? Is recommending increased nut consumption to the general population for CAD prevention sound public health advice? Epidemiologic studies indicate an inverse association between frequency of nut consumption and body mass index. In well-controlled nut-feeding trials, no changes in body weight were observed. Some studies on free-living subjects in which no constraints on body weight are imposed show a nonsignificant tendency to lower weight while subjects are on the nut diets. In another line of evidence, preliminary data indicate that subjects on nut-rich diets excrete more fat in stools. Further research is needed to study the effects of nut consumption on energy balance and body weight. In the meantime, the available cumulative data do not indicate that free-living people on self-selected diets including nuts frequently have a higher body mass index or a tendency to gain weight."
http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/78/3/647S.long
"Nuts are a nutrient-rich food group. Depending on the type, they may provide substantive concentrations of Vitamin E, magnesium, folate, essential fatty acids, fiber and protein to the diet. They also contain potentially important phytochemicals. By mechanisms yet to be identified, they are reported to improve postprandial lipid profiles and may hold other health benefits. However, they are also energy dense so a theoretical contributor to positive energy balance and weight gain. However, epidemiological studies have consistently revealed an inverse association between the frequency of nut consumption and BMI. Further, intervention trials demonstrate less than predicted weight gain following inclusion of nuts in the diet. The mechanisms for these observations are currently under study. Candidates include strong satiety effects, promotion of energy expenditure and/or inefficient energy utilization. Recent trials have revealed support for each. Inclusion of nuts in the diet results in strong satiety effects as revealed by robust compensatory dietary responses that offset approximately 65-75% of the energy they provide. Several trials note increased energy expenditure that may account for an additional 10% of their energy yield. Limited bioaccessibility results in a loss of 5-15% of energy. Taken together, these findings largely account for the energy provided by nuts and explain the epidemiological and clinical observations. Thus, current knowledge suggests moderate nut consumption does not pose a threat for weight gain."
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/182963720 -
The landlord loves him. He's one of those people who have this phony niceness so when you talk to them they seem like cool down to earth people until you see their real side. Somehow even though I was the first to move in to the apartment the landlord refers to him for everything and whenever I try to complain about everything he just goes "[douchebaggio] said this so I don't know what your problem is. Recently they switched the key to the building, landlord gave him the one key which he then hoarded for himself and disappeared for a week so that I couldn't get in unless someone else walked by, and when I got mad he got pissed at me and told me not to give him orders and that he doesn't work for me.
I can't call the police since the city my university is in is rather sketchy, so the police have plenty more important things to do than take care of someone stealing food, toilet paper and <20$ while smoking all over the apartment(and my room) despite the fact that it makes me sick. They have enough stabbings/drug dealers to deal with before they can deal with ****ty roommates.
I guess I could report the fact that he's 25 and has been dating and sleeping with his 18 year old gf for 4 years since she was 14, but whether or not that's a good idea I'd still need solid proof for that to work.
Currently put an ad up for someone to replace me for the remainder of the lease, but everyone that's come by can't get over how bad he smells. Meh.
I actually got really pissed at him and the whole time he was all "lets be mature and not make a big deal out of this, with proper communication we can enjoy living together, please don't blame the entire world for your problems". So basically he wins the argument and I'm a petty child while he's supposedly "mature".
So far besides stealing food and breaking into my room he has also decided to crap in my bathroom(we each have our own bathroom in our rooms), not flush and leave it to fester for the entire weekend until I come back and have to clean it up because he's nowhere to be found. Also not letting me use shared spaces like the kitchen and living room because he and his girlfriend who lives there without paying rent want some privacy, having guests over well after 2 am and making noise despite the fact that I have 8 am classes and generally making a huge mess of the kitchen and living room and expecting me to clean up after him.
*tried booby trapping with hot sauce, didn't work, apparently it's a traditional food ingredient for his ethnicity or something so he just ate more.
Either you can keep making excuses and whinging or you can do something about it - contact the police because breaking into your room and burgling it is breaking the law regardless of what or how much is stolen. Put something else in the food instead of quitting at the first hurdle I've given you multiple suggestions. All cities have drug dealers and stabbings and all city police forces are busy, the deprived ones and the posh ones.
And pick your battles, some issues matter more in the grand scheme of things than others. Right now your health matters and your finances matter because you are sick and broke, poop is nasty but it can be flushed and you can put cheap chemicals down the toilet to clean it. Buy some wax or silicone ear plugs (not foam) for noise or just be darn noisy at 8am when they are trying to sleep. There is clearly no point in arguing or debating with him so don't - walk away.0 -
Simply put, aside from the potatoes, the carbohydrates you love are grains. Vegetables and fruits are also carbohydrates as well. So I'll leave this here if you care to read.
http://nourishedkitchen.com/against-the-grain-10-reasons-to-give-up-grains/
Now I in no way will ever give up grain COMPLETELY, because it's delicious, but I have definitely taken a step back from the amount I eat them in. I generally eat 50% carbs, 30% fat, and 20% protein and it works for me, but everyone has different needs. I wish you luck in finding a way to limit your grain and find alternatives for a healthier lifestyle.0 -
...I was... I try... I don't...doesn't work for me...I can't....
Listen to how negatively/passively you talk about yourself. I know things seem out of control right now. But you CAN control what you put in your body and you CAN stop listening to the negative comments from others as well as your own negative thoughts.0 -
The landlord loves him. He's one of those people who have this phony niceness so when you talk to them they seem like cool down to earth people until you see their real side. Somehow even though I was the first to move in to the apartment the landlord refers to him for everything and whenever I try to complain about everything he just goes "[douchebaggio] said this so I don't know what your problem is. Recently they switched the key to the building, landlord gave him the one key which he then hoarded for himself and disappeared for a week so that I couldn't get in unless someone else walked by, and when I got mad he got pissed at me and told me not to give him orders and that he doesn't work for me.
I can't call the police since the city my university is in is rather sketchy, so the police have plenty more important things to do than take care of someone stealing food, toilet paper and <20$ while smoking all over the apartment(and my room) despite the fact that it makes me sick. They have enough stabbings/drug dealers to deal with before they can deal with ****ty roommates.
I guess I could report the fact that he's 25 and has been dating and sleeping with his 18 year old gf for 4 years since she was 14, but whether or not that's a good idea I'd still need solid proof for that to work.
Currently put an ad up for someone to replace me for the remainder of the lease, but everyone that's come by can't get over how bad he smells. Meh.
I actually got really pissed at him and the whole time he was all "lets be mature and not make a big deal out of this, with proper communication we can enjoy living together, please don't blame the entire world for your problems". So basically he wins the argument and I'm a petty child while he's supposedly "mature".
So far besides stealing food and breaking into my room he has also decided to crap in my bathroom(we each have our own bathroom in our rooms), not flush and leave it to fester for the entire weekend until I come back and have to clean it up because he's nowhere to be found. Also not letting me use shared spaces like the kitchen and living room because he and his girlfriend who lives there without paying rent want some privacy, having guests over well after 2 am and making noise despite the fact that I have 8 am classes and generally making a huge mess of the kitchen and living room and expecting me to clean up after him.
*tried booby trapping with hot sauce, didn't work, apparently it's a traditional food ingredient for his ethnicity or something so he just ate more.
Either you can keep making excuses and whinging or you can do something about it - contact the police because breaking into your room and burgling it is breaking the law regardless of what or how much is stolen. Put something else in the food instead of quitting at the first hurdle I've given you multiple suggestions. All cities have drug dealers and stabbings and all city police forces are busy, the deprived ones and the posh ones.
And pick your battles, some issues matter more in the grand scheme of things than others. Right now your health matters and your finances matter because you are sick and broke, poop is nasty but it can be flushed and you can put cheap chemicals down the toilet to clean it. Buy some wax or silicone ear plugs (not foam) for noise or just be darn noisy at 8am when they are trying to sleep. There is clearly no point in arguing or debating with him so don't - walk away.
I actually contacted the police. The keys to all the rooms are the same so even though it's my room and I locked it, technically the fact that he has a key means what's mine is now his and he's allowed entry whenever he pleases.
So far I'm hoping the spring semester students will want the room, maybe someone who smokes will come by since they most likely wouldn't have a problem with the terrible smell. meanwhile I'm just living there as little as possible to avoid the idiot. Luckily for me the semester is ending now so I don't actually have to be there, just show up at the university(which is next to a train station) every once in a while for an exam.
If it helps shed any light about the negativity, I have a handful of people who treat me nicely but from age 9-ish up until now it's been a constant stream of people doing their best to make me feel worthless. But I'm starting therapy now(REAL therapy, unlike those people who get paid to pray for you or wave their hands around and say it'll cure you, my parents seem to like those) and the physical beatings have been absent for a few years now, so it'll eventually get better.
For now I'm looking up healthier food, now that the semester's over and I have more free time perhaps I'll have more time to prepare healthy meals and eat 6 meals a day instead of 1-2. I'm thinking maybe there might be some recipes that would trick my brain into thinking its getting ****ty carbs while I'm actually eating healthy clean food. I do really like nuts and things like beans lentils peas etc., I don't eat TONS of them but I've been adding more of them to my diet lately instead of just simple carbs.
Maybe finding tips on how to make foods I normally eat more healthy/have less calories would be a start, that way even if I'm still eating something fairly unhealthy now and then the effect will be less damaging than it normally would be.
Also, would eating stuff that has a rather high calorie level but is healthier make a difference rather than eating something unhealthy of the same calorie level? Avocados, beans, nuts and veggies people generally tell you to avoid such as cauliflour are delicious but if I eat a bunch of those I'm probably just going to get fatter aren't I?
I'm hoping to lose a decent amount of weight through diet, not to the point of reaching my goal but to the point where the access fat doesn't weigh me down and prevent me from doing any physical activity whatsoever, then going along with the diet and adding working out so that should help.
Does anyone know any good recipe sites with all sorts of unique ways to make healthy foods? I've tried looking but obviously there's the problem where many of these foods are ideas my brain can't come up with on it's own so I don't really know how to look properly.0 -
Avocados, beans, nuts and veggies people generally tell you to avoid such as cauliflour are delicious but if I eat a bunch of those I'm probably just going to get fatter aren't I?
This is just my opinion, but I think you should stop focusing on your weight (just for the next 6 weeks or so) and focus more on the foods that will help your brain and mood. Whole, unprocessed foods with complex carbohydrates, unsaturated fats, and no fake sugars/preservatives/colorings will help support your neurotransmitters and hormones that are all out of whack right now. THIS ISN'T YOUR FAULT! But you CAN choose right now to do the things to help your body regulate its mood. One of those things could be 90% of the time eating foods that help with balanced brain function and sleep.
The beatings may have stopped, but you're still beating up your body yourself by eating food that doesn't help support your mood and sleep.0 -
What kind of foods would help mood/sleep? So far nobody seems to know exactly what's wrong with me so they just keep throwing pills at me until something works. Antidepressants helped some, pills meant for sleeping did nothing, would take 2 of them then lie in bed for hours, end up falling asleep for a bit at 5 am.0
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