New here and looking for diet help. :)
ShaoTrommashere
Posts: 13
My name is Shao and I'm 27. I just got off a nearly 2 year hiatus from doing any exercise after I herniated a disk in my back. I did it bad enough that I had surgery and almost a year of physicial therapy. During that time, I was laid up on the couch, eating poorly due to extreme depression and just not being able to walk more than fifty feet without excruciating pain.
I finally got the okay to resume an exercise plan and everything went well at the beginning. I work as a waitress, so I'm always moving and walking around. I walk/jog my two dogs twice a day and I do low impact Zumba in my living room for extra exercise. I went from 220 to 170 in four months. I was using diet pills (Lipozine and Slim Quick) in conjunction with a healthy-ish diet (Getting off work at 2am kills the desire to cook, so it was usually a salad from McDonalds with homemade dressing or a low carb dish from work.)
My problem is, my weight is slowly creeping back up and I am very frustrated. I have no motivation to work out as I plateaued at 170 and just can't drop any more weight. I don't feel attractive at my current weight due to having the female "pouch" that I just can't get rid of and my thighs still rub together.
I need good diet advice as I'm severely limited in healthy snacks I can eat. I'm on a low residue diet which basically means most raw fruits and vegetables are out; I can only eat canned or cooked fruits and veggies. I also can't do any whole wheat/whole grain. Basically, I'm allowed to eat all foods dieticians say you shouldn't eat and I can't eat the good stuff. I lost weight the first time by basically starving myself; I have a collection of kiddie plates and if my meal didn't fit on that plate, I didn't eat it. I also steamed all of my veggies and to flavor them, I used Italian Dressing. I salivate over the healthy meals my girlfriends make and I feel like I'm stuck only eating cooked/processed foods.
I also need motivation to keep up with it even after I plateau. I get so frustrated when the weight stops coming off, but I know my eating habits have a lot to do with it. 140 and under a size 10 is my goal.
I finally got the okay to resume an exercise plan and everything went well at the beginning. I work as a waitress, so I'm always moving and walking around. I walk/jog my two dogs twice a day and I do low impact Zumba in my living room for extra exercise. I went from 220 to 170 in four months. I was using diet pills (Lipozine and Slim Quick) in conjunction with a healthy-ish diet (Getting off work at 2am kills the desire to cook, so it was usually a salad from McDonalds with homemade dressing or a low carb dish from work.)
My problem is, my weight is slowly creeping back up and I am very frustrated. I have no motivation to work out as I plateaued at 170 and just can't drop any more weight. I don't feel attractive at my current weight due to having the female "pouch" that I just can't get rid of and my thighs still rub together.
I need good diet advice as I'm severely limited in healthy snacks I can eat. I'm on a low residue diet which basically means most raw fruits and vegetables are out; I can only eat canned or cooked fruits and veggies. I also can't do any whole wheat/whole grain. Basically, I'm allowed to eat all foods dieticians say you shouldn't eat and I can't eat the good stuff. I lost weight the first time by basically starving myself; I have a collection of kiddie plates and if my meal didn't fit on that plate, I didn't eat it. I also steamed all of my veggies and to flavor them, I used Italian Dressing. I salivate over the healthy meals my girlfriends make and I feel like I'm stuck only eating cooked/processed foods.
I also need motivation to keep up with it even after I plateau. I get so frustrated when the weight stops coming off, but I know my eating habits have a lot to do with it. 140 and under a size 10 is my goal.
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Replies
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bump.0
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Firstly, I would steer clear of the diet pills. You want something that is maintainable.
I am not sure why you can't have raw foods (maybe I missed something in your post?) but I would recommend checking out the temperatures that common vitamins and minerals begin disintegrating at, and try to cook your foods below that, even if it takes much longer. More vitamins and minerals from natural sources will help.
As for cooked snacks that you can take with you, have you ever tried making your own potato or sweet potato chips? If you make them in the oven or microwave with little or no oil, they actually make a pretty healthy filling snack (just watch your portions because of the carbs). That being said, if grains are out for you you need to get your carbs from somewhere. You could also try roasted chickpeas, once again just go easy on the oil
Have you tried veggie patties? I don't know if your restrictions also relate to legumes.
I don't know if any of this helps you at all :S0 -
Thanks for your advice.
I can't have any unprocessed fruits and vegetables as I can't have any excess fiber. Here's what I can't eat or it causes bloating/nasty feeling/stomach upset:
Whole-wheat or whole-grain breads, cereals and pasta
Brown or wild rice and other whole grains such as oats, kasha, barley, quinoa
Dried fruits and prune juice
Raw fruit, including those with seeds, skin or membranes, such as berries
Raw or undercooked vegetables, including corn
Dried beans, peas and lentils
Seeds and nuts, and foods containing them
Coconut
Popcorn
I can eat:
Enriched white bread or rolls without seeds
White rice, plain white pasta, noodles and macaroni
Crackers
Refined cereals such as Cream of Wheat
Pancakes or waffles made from white refined flour
Most canned or cooked fruits without skins, seeds or membranes
Fruit and vegetable juice with little or no pulp, fruit-flavored drinks and flavored waters
Canned or well-cooked vegetables without seeds, hulls or skins, such as carrots, potatoes and tomatoes
Tender meat, poultry and fish
Eggs
Tofu
Creamy peanut butter — up to 2 tablespoons a day
Milk and foods made from milk, such as yogurt, pudding, ice cream, cheeses and sour cream — up to 2 cups a day, including any used in cooking
Butter, margarine, oils and salad dressings without seeds
Desserts with no whole grains, seeds, nuts, raisins or coconut.
I can get away with super small portions of the no-no foods; a cup or two of popcorn won't kill me, but I'll feel bloated and have minor cramps until it passes. Un-cooked/processed fruits and vegetables can cause serious gastric distress. I have severe Irritable Bowel Syndrome and I'm also Lactose Intolerant to a minor degree: you will never catch me drinking a glass of milk or eating a pint of ice cream but I can get away with a very small helping of Macaroni and Cheese and a slice of cheese on a sandwich without too much issue.
I've tried my own Potato and Sweet Potato chips and have a microwave chip cooker (no oil at all). I like it, but they aren't super crunchy. They are good for a quick fix, but they start to get stale after a day or two, so I can't make a big batch all at once. I take tons of vitamins to help out with what I can't get naturally from food.
I do turkey patties; I can never season the veggie patties to taste palatable and the ones from the stores near me (I live in the country) are too high in sodium to be worth it. I grind my own turkey for burgers, meat loafs, and chili's.
I guess my issue is variety. I'm eating mostly from the carbohydrate section of the food pyramid and nothing else. To get a sweet fix, I might have a glass or two of a sweet wine or have a piece of dark chocolate, but I miss eating dried apricots and gorging myself on a salad. I also add a lot of non-healthy things to food to get them to taste different.
Everyone I know who's on a low residue diet is super thin and can keep the weight off, but unless I am doing medium to high impact aerobics for hours every day, the starchy carbs go straight to my thighs and stomach and are impossible to get off.0 -
Maybe for a sweet fix you could try making your own fruit leather. Either use the canned stuff or buy fresh fruits, puree them then strain them through a coffee filter to remove most of the fiber content. Then just dehydrate and go.0
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Set a calorie limit (either through TDEE or let MFP set one for you) and stick with it.
Just because you have to limit your fiber intake does not mean you have to live off of starchy carbs. Up your protein to help you stay fuller longer without the fiber and go for foods with the good fats to feel satisfiedTry buying a steamer basket for a stock pot and steam fresh or frozen veggies. I can't hardly do raw or undercooked veggies either because it upsets my acid reflux, but I can steam frozen veggies in under 10 minutes and be fine. Full fat yogurt and cheese are both easy snacks that fill you up.
Weight loss is calories in vs calories out. If you stick to a calorie deficit you will lose weight, regardless of what you eat.0 -
Ooooh! Brilliant idea! I never thought about that! I've always thought about fruit jerky, but I figured it would be too rough on my system as the natural stuff you find in nutrition stores still causes issues. Will have to try the double strain method.0
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Set a calorie limit (either through TDEE or let MFP set one for you) and stick with it.
Just because you have to limit your fiber intake does not mean you have to live off of starchy carbs. Up your protein to help you stay fuller longer without the fiber and go for foods with the good fats to feel satisfiedTry buying a steamer basket for a stock pot and steam fresh or frozen veggies. I can't hardly do raw or undercooked veggies either because it upsets my acid reflux, but I can steam frozen veggies in under 10 minutes and be fine. Full fat yogurt and cheese are both easy snacks that fill you up.
Weight loss is calories in vs calories out. If you stick to a calorie deficit you will lose weight, regardless of what you eat.
I have a bamboo steamer and I steam or sautee veggies until almost mushy. I do lots of chicken/turkey through the day. Greek Yogurt is my new passion and I use different extracts to flavor it. Can't do cheese in a snackable portion. I get so bored with my baked/boiled chicken, mushy veggies, and white rice dinners that I use my snacks to get some variety, but like today, I punted my caloric intake by over 400g by having an extra popcorn snack and two beers after dinner.
I miss how a high fiber diet made me feel so full without being full of calories, but my body can't handle it anymore.0 -
I would definitely recommend upping your protein intake instead of living off the carbs. Though it looks like mainly your diet is so restrictive it gets boring quickly, and the best medicine for that is simply recipe surfing.
If you are really enjoying Greek yogurt, try substituting it in dishes that call for sour cream or mayo such as chicken salad or tuna sandwiches. Homemade curry is easy to make in large quantities and I believe fits in your diet by cooking all the vegetables and being served over white rice (and often is pretty easy on calories).
Turkey is a very versatile meat, but try throwing in lean pork and fish to keep from getting burnt out. After all, variety is the spice of life0 -
I'm going to have to. I added Tofu to my diet and I wasn't dissapointed as I thought I was. It's a blank canvas that I get to play with, so that was good. I have a great Tofu burger with Mandarin Orange sauce...yummy!
Curry is awesome and I have single sized portions in my freezer to re-heat. I also do a lot of soups and sandwiches.
Mains aren't really my problem as I can have almost any protein as long as it's cooked correctly...the hard part is with my schedule, it's just easier to bake a dozen chicken breasts and freeze them, then I pull one out for dinner every night and it comes to temp while the rice and veggies are cooking.
I really need help with good snacks.
Thank you for all the fantastic advice!!!0 -
Woo!!! Found a completely filling and tasty breakfast combo and snack. I ate some raisins yesterday which usually causes stomach problems, but I was completely fine. I had a 1/2 of raisins through the day and I was fine. I added 1/8th of a cup to a bowl of Corn Flakes this morning. It was fantastic. I could do this for Breakfast and for a quick dinner after work.
The only thing that makes me slightly cranky is that MFP only wants me to have 25g of sugar, but 2 cups of Corn Flakes, 1 cup of Milk, and 1/8 cup of Raisins gets me to 43g of Sugar. Could I classify that as "good" sugar and not be too concerned about it, or do I need to take that into consideration?0 -
Unfortunately all dried fruits are going to be super high in sugar and a lot of store bought raisins have added sugar in them :-/ although the sugar content in grapes is not so bad for you, you should be careful with the raisins. I overeat raisins whenever they're in my apartment! That being said, I'm always over on my sugar goal from fruit and veggies. don't get too discouraged if the sugar is coming from a good source.
Can you do an egg casserole? Ingredients include any meat, some eggs, nut or soy milk, and frozen veggies (steamed in microwave then baked in casserole)? I've been doing this for about half a year and it hasn't gotten boring because I'm always changing up the meat/veggie combos.
Snacks are tough to come up with on your limitations. I seem to always have either raw fruit or raw veggies for a snack! I do have greek yogurt a lot though. i get the plain so that the sugar content is lower. if I want to sweeten it up I'll add maple syrup, honey, vanilla extract, or cinnamon. I've also done whole cans of tuna for a snack - just mix with some greek yogurt and eat with a fork! I also will eat a whole package of those frozen veggie steamers as a snack. Usually when they’re on sale since they can get pricey.
Can you roast up small portions of sweet potatoes and eat those as a snack? What about dipping them in a homemade chili mayo? How about hummus? Is that too raw? Could you dip your homemade chips in that?
What about those snack packs of pickles?
Good luck! I hope you get some more ideas!0 -
I have always loved raisins. Before I was diagnosed with IBS, I ate them like candy; I always had tons of the little boxes in my purse and I had two containers in my nightstand if I was looking for a quick snack while reading/watching TV in bed.
I played with the food counter and even if I ate nothing but "bland" proteins (absolutely no seasoning), vegetables, and "raw" fruit, I'd still go over my sugar by a decent amount. I had to come to the conclusion that as long as I wasn't adding sugar to the item and it had a natural sweetness to it, I wasn't going to stress about it. The only thing it changes is I need to invest in a juicer as I use Mango or Papaya juice to make a protein shake before working out. Even the natural stuff has 50-125g of sugar per serving...even the "diabetic friendly" stuff due to high fructose corn syrup.
I was thinking about that today. I love Egg Foo Young and MFP puts it at an extremely low calorie count...20 I think. I could have a ton of fun with that. I saw some egg casserole dishes and they all look pretty good. I have a few egg dishes that I can play with.
I can do hummus and I eat that with pita bread as a snack to "fill up" as it were. Sweet Potatoes get boring after a while. I switched to those after I exhausted every Idaho potato recipe I could think of. I'm going to test out if veggies in a dehydrator are okay...things like broccoli or baby carrot rounds.\
I've never seen pickle snack packs! That sounds interesting. That would be nice for a good crunch.0
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