Frustrated, even furious

I think you have made excellent progress. It sounds like you are reaching your goal of becoming and staying healthy. You have lost well over 10% body weight, which has already made a significant improvement on your health status. You avoid processed foods and eat organic - at least in part. Other than you are hungry and impatient, I don't see a major problem. You can take it easy on yourself and celebrate your success; be kind to yourself. You need to be your own best coach, patient, encouraging, persistent. You can stop worrying about how easy it is for other people. It is only easy for a small minority of people who are outliers and so far have not been apparently harmed by eating processed non-foods as much as they please. Sooner or later the damage will become visible.

I have found two things that have helped me stay healthy. I ate a clean low-fat vegan diet for two years with no counting and eating plenty with a hearty appetite, which did not lead to either weight gain or weight loss over the entire span of the two years, but worked as maintenance without the stress over the long haul. I had no healthy issues for two years, but after two years I started to feel like I needed to eat all the time to keep my blood sugar from fluctuating and feeling lightheaded. The culprits were fruit, rice, bread, cereal. I decided to try a clean, mainly organic Paleo diet, which led to 10 lb loss right away in the first month. It requires cutting all junk calories (grains, potatoes, processed oils, legumes, dairy) and keeping only what's nutritious (mostly vegetables, nuts, grassfed eggs, pasture butter, grassfed, anti-biotic-free and steroid-free meats). I try to keep carbs at 100 g per day and protein at 80 g per day, the rest is good fats (avocado, unrefined coconut oil, olive oil, nuts). Except for not having many options when eating out, it has not been difficult. I feel that my blood sugar has been at a steady low and my mood has improved. Anyway, if you are already eating clean, this should not be difficult to try.

Congratulations on the progress you have made so far! I hope you find it in yourself to persevere. After all, you want to live healthy. Feel free to friend me.

Did someone say cat gif?

fixed

:flowerforyou:

Now I eat intuitively, and I eat when hungry and stop when full.

This is what I am talking about. Eating healthy and INTUITIVELY. NOW someone is getting it, finally!!! :-)

Geez, what have people been doing for thousands of years without the tools on this forum?... and the suckers were rarely, if ever, overweight.

If I did that in my local supermarket, I'd consume mainly alcohol, frozen desserts, ice cream, bread, cheese, red meat, packaged processed meat with a bit of an off-set of raw fruit and veg. I don't think this plan works quite so well in the UK, although it does sound very attractive...

I want to eat just like they were - intuitively, when hungry, stopping when decently full, NOT logging, and NOT putting on weight.
Too much to ask?

Well here is a middle ground start:

Eat everything from the "perimeter" of the store aisles. This is where foods are in their natural state. Just from my experience you will become full "quicker" and more naturally.

If I did that in my local supermarket I'd consume (in addition to raw fruit and veg which are also on the outer edge of the shop) mainly dairy, cheese, processed packaged meat, red meat, bread, cakes, frozen desserts, ice cream, and alcohol. I don't think this plan works so well in the UK, although it does sound attractive...

I have found that with the many cooked-from-scratch foods I eat it is simply not practical to calculate how may calories my portion represents. I don't eat food that comes from labeled packages and for me it would just take way, way to long to figure out exactly how many calories a certain bite has.

That's why there is a Recipe option... You add all the ingredients that you used (even the cooking spray, the oil, the garlic, the broth, etc...) and it calculates the total calories for you and, depending on the number of servings you put for the recipe, it tells you exactly how many calories are in each serving. And then, if you ever use the recipe again, you can just add it from your recipes.

The bottom line is that you shouldn't be furious or frustrated until you consistently track your food for at least a month... Even though you're eating 'clean' and making all your own food, there's no way to really know how many calories your consuming. For example, if you cook with oil, that's 120 calories per tablesoon right there...

Try tracking (it gets easier and easier as you get accustomed to the system) and then reevaluate. If it turns out that you were estimating correctly, then you have a right to be frustrated, but until you get an accurate number of what you're eating every day, you shouldn't be upset.

OP - you do what you want to do, as none of the advice you have been given you will take on board. Be prepared for getting seriously ill through lack of nutition, be prepared for even more crabby days as your blood sugars are on a rollercoaster.

Oh yeah - and be prepared for your children to ask you questions when they do nutrition at school - as you are clearly (to me) setting them an example of panic-weight loss.

As for being busy - are you truly busy or just very good at thinking you are busy?

And yes that is harsh and yes I'll probably be flamed but I really don't care as I am also a busy person with a job, house, husband, outside activities, a heap of volunatry work and I am also insulin-resistant so it is even harder to lose weight. But I dont make excuses. I get on with it.

Did someone say cat gif?

fixed

Perfect!! Now I can rest in peace knowing a cat is running amok all up in here.
:smokin:

I have found that with the many cooked-from-scratch foods I eat it is simply not practical to calculate how may calories my portion represents. I don't eat food that comes from labeled packages and for me it would just take way, way to long to figure out exactly how many calories a certain bite has.

With all due respect; this is because you don't want to. I eat nothing from packages or boxes and cook all my meals at home. I log all individual ingredients, including condiments and it has never taken me more than 10 minutes. I am a busy woman with lots of activities, but also believe that if something is important to me I find the time to do it.....if not, than it is just not that important.
For example; I read the paper each morning and get up a little bit earlier to do so. Now I log my food above all ( 90% of the time ) and then I read the paper, if there is time....if not, than it's only logging and no paper, because it's important to me.

FOR ME - and again, I emphasize FOR ME!! - calorie counting is not just unpractical and time consuming (yes, I have tried it on this very site and it is very time consuming), but also psychologically unhealthy. I do not want to obsess over a specific "food journey" or "weight loss" journey every day.

I want to adjust my eating habit to a point where I eat healthy, I lose all the weight I need to lose, then I just maintain - without thinking much about it.
Do I expect to be able to stuff my face with pizza and cake all day without giving it a thought - and maintain a healthy weight? Obviously not.

But this where common sense steps in.

I think you're already at a point that is psychologically unhealthy if you want to know if you will be hurting yourself by under-eating every day.

If you want answers to your questions, consult a doctor. They can tell you exactly how healthy your current lifestyle is.

Now I eat intuitively, and I eat when hungry and stop when full.

This is what I am talking about. Eating healthy and INTUITIVELY. NOW someone is getting it, finally!!! :-)

Geez, what have people been doing for thousands of years without the tools on this forum?... and the suckers were rarely, if ever, overweight.

If I did that in my local supermarket, I'd consume mainly alcohol, frozen desserts, ice cream, bread, cheese, red meat, packaged processed meat with a bit of an off-set of raw fruit and veg. I don't think this plan works quite so well in the UK, although it does sound very attractive...

I want to eat just like they were - intuitively, when hungry, stopping when decently full, NOT logging, and NOT putting on weight.
Too much to ask?

Well here is a middle ground start:

Eat everything from the "perimeter" of the store aisles. This is where foods are in their natural state. Just from my experience you will become full "quicker" and more naturally.

If I did that in my local supermarket I'd consume (in addition to raw fruit and veg which are also on the outer edge of the shop) mainly dairy, cheese, processed packaged meat, red meat, bread, cakes, frozen desserts, ice cream, and alcohol. I don't think this plan works so well in the UK, although it does sound attractive...

I would get...dvds, ice cream, yogurts,milk, bread/cake and tea/coffee...... WINNER!!

HEY GUYZ!

I AM DOING SOMETHING THAT IS NOT REALLY WORKING FOR ME, BUT I DON'T WANT TO LISTEN TO ANY OF YOUR SUGGESTIONS! CAN YOU PLEASE GIVE ME A WAY TO GET THE RESULTS I WANT BY ONLY DOING IT THE WAY I WANT TO DO IT? THANKS!