What's On Your Mind Today?

124

Replies

  • KCJen
    KCJen Posts: 1,089 Member
    jamcnewman wrote: »
    @KCJen You post made me want to give you a standing ovation because truly, you just turned on your own “light bulb of insight” 💡Acknowledging that with you. Huge moment. 🌟

    My response to your question is only based on how I would interpret the label — and it is yes, the calories for the dry mix is, if you only add water, the total for however many pancakes that amount produced (adding, of course, any oil or cooking spray for the pan, syrup on top, etc.).

    Pancakes are one of those foods that, for me, had a really “bad” status. Most because they would set me off on a days long carbohydrate craving (and I am not on a keto or carb-free approach — they just seemed to be the perfect bomb). My nutritionist Heather helped me with this last month when we were looking at protein and how to get mine up. Dry skim milk powder. Yes, it adds calories, but no fat, all the calories are protein, it doesn’t distort the flavour, and has no “artificial or chemical ingredients”. I tried it — oh my goodness. Delicious AND the higher protein, for me, seemed to tame the carb monster that is normally looking for satisfaction for days on end. Game changer for me.

    You are doing great Jen 🥰
    Julie

    @Jamcnewman Thank you! I don't really pay attention to carbs. I remember as a kid my aunt and Mom telling me that carbs are "bad". My aunt would always say to me that "you can eat all you want" of a food if it has no carbs, and she would go to TOPS, but she always struggled with being overweight. Of course as a preteen, that confused me and I didn't understand all of it. But two things stuck with me, first is that "no, I can't eat all I want" because overeating is what makes a person fat regardless of carbs or not, and second as a kid I saw that the "low carb" diet wasn't working on the adults in my family, so restricting carbs didn't work.

    I still don't really pay attention to carbs. I do plan to learn more about a "well-balanced diet", but for now, I am trying to get back on track with calories. But I have a lot of bad diet behavior and thoughts I need to unlearn, like pasta is bad and can't eat it on a diet (got that one from my Mom). I just learned yesterday, a single serving of pasta is 200 calories and it will help keep me full over a period of time. So I am thinking I will add some broccoli and cherry tomatoes to that single serving of pasta and have myself a yummy pasta salad for lunch today!

    Thanks for your response and encouragement, I appreciate it!
  • KCJen
    KCJen Posts: 1,089 Member
    ideas2 wrote: »
    Years ago, after regaining more than 75 pounds, I decided that that behavior was very irrational and I signed up for Dr. Gould´s ¨Shrink Yourself¨ program for emotional eaters. I had never really seen myself as an emotional eater, but I could not understand how I let that happen so decided I must be an emotional eater, and I learned a lot. For awhile I was co-moderator of the forum there with a physician who had what I felt was a great insight. For many of us the term ¨emotional eating¨ does not resonate because we are not feeling the emotion that is making us eat at the time when we are eating. So she suggested ¨irrational eating¨ is a better term. Whenever I go off of my eating plan for reasons that are not based in good logic, I am ¨irrationally eating.¨

    One major thing I learned from Shrink Yourself was how to distinguish different kinds of hunger-- real physical hunger from the cravings of irrational (emotional) hunger. I learned to pause whenever I was ¨hungry¨ and check in with my stomach and consciously go through all the signs of whether the hunger was real physical hunger (did it come on slowly? could I feel it in my stomach as opposed to my mouth or head? could it be satisfied by food like brocolli or carrots?) If I determined it was not real physical hunger, then I knew it was irrational (emotional) even if I was not experiencing an emotion at the time. Usually, if I floated back in my memory to the last emotion I could remember having it gave me a lot of insight. But the truth is for me, my desire to eat is a distraction--I can´t feel the emotion at the time so it doesn´t feel like ¨emotional¨ eating to me. It is just after the fact that I can see how irrational it is.

    @ideas2 Wow! That is helpful to me. I was an emotional smoker, which I didn't put two and two together until after I quit smoking and noticed I was eating a lot more than I normally did. When I was in a stressful situation I would go smoke. I would always go outside to smoke because of my son and plus I just didn't smoke in my house. Removing myself from the situation and changing environments always helped me calm down. Eating when I am stressed and wanting a "distraction" completely makes sense to me!

    Thank you for posting this!! I am going to do some research on this topic. Thanks!
  • KCJen
    KCJen Posts: 1,089 Member
    @KCJen I think those are some great insights and plans for long-term weight loss.

    Having recently moved towards a 1200 calorie diet for most of the week (though not really, because I eat back ~150 exercise calories a day) I will say I find it a lot harder to fit in what I want to eat than in the 1400 calories I was aiming for before. I am getting better at it as I go, though. But I would say stick at a calorie range that has you losing average of 1 pound a week (or even less, I am more like 1 pound a month) would be best for learning good habits and keeping the weight off.

    Another insight about "food rules" that someone here on UAC gave me is that you can set different calorie goals for different days of the week. That's why I have the lower goal for most of the week, is to have extra calories for "takeout Friday" and still average out to a weight loss goal. It does seem to mostly be working so far.

    Re: the pancake figuring out, I have found that for me it *never* works to be reading labels right before I eat. I am hungry and distracted and I can't do math at all in that state! I set aside time (see my post in the check in for the 19th that I just wrote about exactly that habit) one time a day to plan the next day's calories. That is when I would look up a restaurant menu and make my decision about what to order, look in the fridge and plan out the meal of leftovers, put in the recipe for something new I am planning, and read/scan all the nutrition labels. When I do it all at once it usually only takes 5-10 minutes, especially since I usually am eating some repeat meals (copy from date is very handy!). It takes longer of course if I am actually cooking something new and have to put a recipe into MFP.
    Then when I am actually plating the food I just have to weigh out what I have already planned. I can *usually* manage that without too much stress.

    @Caroline_slowandsteady It sounds like we are on similar calorie ranges. I am at 1500, but I might bump that up to 1600 because I have decided that I can not live without coffee creamer in the morning! However, I made some changes to my coffee creamer and decreased calories by 20 per serving so I will see how that works. But I am on a set 1500 calories per day with the caveat that I need to net 1200 per day. That is when my exercise calories from my treadmill causes me to go below 1200, I will need to eat some back to get back to 1200 net per day. Of course right now I am in no danger of having to eat back my exercise calories. But I will be honest, that idea scares me because I have never ate back my exercise calories, because in my mind I felt like I was voiding out the workout on the treadmill. However, the medical experts and my couple of scary moments has made me come to realize it is safer and healthy for me to net 1200.

    I guess I should briefly explain my scary moment, huh? Before when I lost weight I was on a strict 1200 calorie diet, and not eating back exercise calories. I tracked everything in my spreadsheet, and still do. I had days where I would net 800 to 900 calories. I noticed that I started getting hungry all the time, and if I was eating late I would start to feel weak and get the shakes. The more I pushed myself on the treadmill, the more frequent the hunger and weakness happened. My scary moment happened twice, both times was when it that time of the month and when I first just got out of bed. I woke up, walked to the kitchen to start my coffee and had to immediately go back to bed. I got pale, extremely weak, felt like I was going to pass out. I had to have my ex husband come get our son and take him to school because I was unable to drive. I would drink apple juice and go back to sleep and wake up feeling better, but still weak. Because of that happening twice to me, when it became that time of the month for me, I would increase my calories to 1500, or for the first few days, just eat whatever with no limitations and count it as a pass day. It scared me. I won't do that again.

    My goal is to lose 1 to 2 pounds a week also!

    I am not as organized as you! Altho I do have a paper planner lol. I have not planned out my calories for the day ahead. I tend to be a creature of habit. I do eat the same thing for breakfast and lunch, typically bagel and coffee, and a salad and yogurt. I am trying to replace lettuce-salad with pasta-salad for lunch at the moment. For dinner, it is the challenge of finding whatever I can make that will fit within X amount of calories allowed for dinner. Before I would eat skinless chicken breast and broccoli on the nights I didn't have my son, and when I cooked dinner for both of us, I tried to have healthy meals that he liked - which was a challenge. He is now 18, and custody from the divorce is over, trying to figure out what is for dinner that will stay within my calorie range is a major challenge. For example, last night's dinner completely blew the calorie range for the day. However, it's a process I have to adjust, and it's a learn-as-I-go process.

    Typically when I am "on my diet" I don't eat out at restaurants. I would jokingly say I am afraid of "outside calories". That is something I will need to deal with eventually, as I learn to not be on a "diet" and just develop a healthy lifestyle. I think how you plan for your calories is something I would like to learn for situations like that. Or pull up the menu online to help make the best choice available.

    Thanks for your response. I am glad to find another calorie counter in the bunch! :)
  • victorious55
    victorious55 Posts: 3,259 Member
    KCJen wrote: »
    jamcnewman wrote: »
    @KCJen You post made me want to give you a standing ovation because truly, you just turned on your own “light bulb of insight” 💡Acknowledging that with you. Huge moment. 🌟

    My response to your question is only based on how I would interpret the label — and it is yes, the calories for the dry mix is, if you only add water, the total for however many pancakes that amount produced (adding, of course, any oil or cooking spray for the pan, syrup on top, etc.).

    Pancakes are one of those foods that, for me, had a really “bad” status. Most because they would set me off on a days long carbohydrate craving (and I am not on a keto or carb-free approach — they just seemed to be the perfect bomb). My nutritionist Heather helped me with this last month when we were looking at protein and how to get mine up. Dry skim milk powder. Yes, it adds calories, but no fat, all the calories are protein, it doesn’t distort the flavour, and has no “artificial or chemical ingredients”. I tried it — oh my goodness. Delicious AND the higher protein, for me, seemed to tame the carb monster that is normally looking for satisfaction for days on end. Game changer for me.

    You are doing great Jen 🥰
    Julie

    @Jamcnewman Thank you! I don't really pay attention to carbs. I remember as a kid my aunt and Mom telling me that carbs are "bad". My aunt would always say to me that "you can eat all you want" of a food if it has no carbs, and she would go to TOPS, but she always struggled with being overweight. Of course as a preteen, that confused me and I didn't understand all of it. But two things stuck with me, first is that "no, I can't eat all I want" because overeating is what makes a person fat regardless of carbs or not, and second as a kid I saw that the "low carb" diet wasn't working on the adults in my family, so restricting carbs didn't work.

    I still don't really pay attention to carbs. I do plan to learn more about a "well-balanced diet", but for now, I am trying to get back on track with calories. But I have a lot of bad diet behavior and thoughts I need to unlearn, like pasta is bad and can't eat it on a diet (got that one from my Mom). I just learned yesterday, a single serving of pasta is 200 calories and it will help keep me full over a period of time. So I am thinking I will add some broccoli and cherry tomatoes to that single serving of pasta and have myself a yummy pasta salad for lunch today!

    Thanks for your response and encouragement, I appreciate it!

    Have you tried whole wheat pasta? It's more filling than their counterpart.
  • KCJen
    KCJen Posts: 1,089 Member
    KCJen wrote: »
    jamcnewman wrote: »
    @KCJen You post made me want to give you a standing ovation because truly, you just turned on your own “light bulb of insight” 💡Acknowledging that with you. Huge moment. 🌟

    My response to your question is only based on how I would interpret the label — and it is yes, the calories for the dry mix is, if you only add water, the total for however many pancakes that amount produced (adding, of course, any oil or cooking spray for the pan, syrup on top, etc.).

    Pancakes are one of those foods that, for me, had a really “bad” status. Most because they would set me off on a days long carbohydrate craving (and I am not on a keto or carb-free approach — they just seemed to be the perfect bomb). My nutritionist Heather helped me with this last month when we were looking at protein and how to get mine up. Dry skim milk powder. Yes, it adds calories, but no fat, all the calories are protein, it doesn’t distort the flavour, and has no “artificial or chemical ingredients”. I tried it — oh my goodness. Delicious AND the higher protein, for me, seemed to tame the carb monster that is normally looking for satisfaction for days on end. Game changer for me.

    You are doing great Jen 🥰
    Julie

    @Jamcnewman Thank you! I don't really pay attention to carbs. I remember as a kid my aunt and Mom telling me that carbs are "bad". My aunt would always say to me that "you can eat all you want" of a food if it has no carbs, and she would go to TOPS, but she always struggled with being overweight. Of course as a preteen, that confused me and I didn't understand all of it. But two things stuck with me, first is that "no, I can't eat all I want" because overeating is what makes a person fat regardless of carbs or not, and second as a kid I saw that the "low carb" diet wasn't working on the adults in my family, so restricting carbs didn't work.

    I still don't really pay attention to carbs. I do plan to learn more about a "well-balanced diet", but for now, I am trying to get back on track with calories. But I have a lot of bad diet behavior and thoughts I need to unlearn, like pasta is bad and can't eat it on a diet (got that one from my Mom). I just learned yesterday, a single serving of pasta is 200 calories and it will help keep me full over a period of time. So I am thinking I will add some broccoli and cherry tomatoes to that single serving of pasta and have myself a yummy pasta salad for lunch today!

    Thanks for your response and encouragement, I appreciate it!

    Have you tried whole wheat pasta? It's more filling than their counterpart.

    @victorious55 Funny that you mention whole wheat pasta, after I bought the regular pasta in penne, garden rotini, and regular rotini and filled up all my containers in my pantry I read an article. The article said that whole wheat and whole grain pasta are more healthy than refined pasta. Next time I go to the grocery store I am planning on picking up a box of whole-grain pasta and trying it out.

    Thanks for the suggestion!
  • bradkcrew
    bradkcrew Posts: 1,501 Member
    @bradkcrew -


    I totally agree with you. Sometimes I think I can indulge in carbs and sugar for 1 day and then I go back to restricting them the very next day. Even though I only indulged the one day, It takes me 4-5 days for the cravings and hunger to stop. The rest of the time I am not hungry and do not crave carbs or sugar. That one day just messes me up. With my illness, gluten hinders remission so I’ve been pretty much gluten free for a long time now. I’m wondering if it’s not just gluten but carbs and sugar in general that I don’t tolerate. People seem to accept when I decline to eat gluten but they freak out about my restricting carbs. I am learning that this isn’t something I can have “cheat” days on. I’m getting to the point where my whole being is telling me it’s just not worth it. I’m hoping I can get to the point where I actually listen. There doesn’t seem to be a “eat this in moderation” solution.

    I’m also aware that some here think 1200 calories is too low. I think everyone needs to find their own number that works for them. I tend to average around 1500 - 1700 per day (depending on my activity level) but that’s me and there are many days that I’m lucky if I get to 1200 because with restricting carbs and sugar, I’m just not hungry. I do know some people plug their goals into MFP and are told 1200 per day and then they post that they are hungry all day. That is unsustainable. It takes time and effort for someone to figure out what works for them individually and I don’t think the 1200 a day, or the way the macros are set up when automatic, works for everyone and for those just starting out, they believe that this is what they need to do, no questions asked.

    I’m hoping I can get to where you are and just stop eating the things I know I can’t eat. It is hard when others, especially our kids and loved ones, want us to share in birthday cakes, etc. I have lost a few friends because I would rather meet to hike or do an activity but they want to go out to dinner and drinks. I don’t even want to do that anymore. But there are times when I feel like I’m being a party pooper or “difficult” or a “special snowflake” and just give in.

    @readyornot1234 Thanks for sharing your thoughts. It is very helpful to hear from others that share the same issues. For now I am just sticking with the eating plan that has proven to work for me, but realistically I know that at any point I may stumble and everything will fall apart....

    When it happens I only hope that I CAN get back on track.
  • donna25trinity
    donna25trinity Posts: 2,977 Member
    edited October 2021
    I hve a question for you guys. I allow myself a treat every night and I literally live for this treat ha ha as it's my reward once I put bub to bed. I try to keep it between 10 to 20% of my calorie allowance. However I am finding that the 1 treat lately can sometimes turn into 2 or 3 treats. Even tho I am still hving 2 or 3 treats some nights im still able to keep it below 20% as they are all low fat such as popcorn, jelly, low fat yougurt and low fat ice cream etc. So my question is do u guys hve treats if so wat are they? and wat boundaries do u hve in place around treats? I would like to maybe steer away from packet style treats and may be go for more healthy stuff like yougurt and fruit but not sure? Wat are ur guys thoughts, advice, suggestions. Xo
  • ashleycarole86
    ashleycarole86 Posts: 6,089 Member
    Hey @donna25trinity .. yes I do have treats most every night. If I think the last time I'm going to eat is supper I'm not as satisfied as if I know there is a little something more coming before bed.

    My only limit on the treat is that it fits within whatever calories I have left for the day. So, while this is restricting in that there is a limit to it, it's freeing in that I don't place rules on the quality of the calories.

    What I feel like can vary, but I try my best to honor what I actually want. Is there any chance treat 1 isn't what you really feel like and that's contributing to you reaching for treats 2 and 3?

    Sometimes my treat is plain Greek yogurt with chocolate chips and shredded coconuts, or fruit, and other times it's chocolate, or a small cookie, that kind of thing.
  • @donna25trinity I also feel like a treat is very important to me, also after I get the kids to bed. I don't try for "healthy" or low fat with my treats, though I do keep them to `~150 calories unless I happen to have some extra to use. I have had trouble with continuing to snack after I finish my snack, but am not right now. I often have 1/2 cup of full fat milk, steamed (which foams up to a full mug) plus a cookie. I actually find that the more I am questioning whether I should have the snack at all, the more likely I am to keep eating at snack time. The more I think of it as an important part of my diet and life - that I deserve it -the more satisfying I find it. Other things that have helped is putting the snack on a plate, eating the snack outside of the kitchen (in the summer, taking it outside was great), checking in with UAC one more time while eating the snack.
  • KCJen
    KCJen Posts: 1,089 Member
    I am currently burned out on eating lettuce salads. For the past 3 days, I have been having a pasta salad for lunch. The "voices of diets past" are running out of control in my mind that I can not be eating pasta every day and lose weight. I just need a calorie deficit to lose weight from what I have been reading. I hope it will be ok, because I have found several healthy pasta salads I want to try!
  • SummerSkier
    SummerSkier Posts: 4,747 Member
    For quick lunches I microwave a pre packaged bag of cauliflower and broccoli. Then I split it in 2 and microwave some sort of meal which I mix in half and half also. Lots of variety Also prepare a variety of cut fruits to have after.
  • lesdarts180
    lesdarts180 Posts: 2,667 Member
    @donna25trinity I also have snacks in the evening – without the excuse of getting kids to bed! I just make sure it fits within my calorie allowance. I have chocolate (just 2 or 3 squares), a Fibre One bar or something similar, dried apricots and figs etc. Often up to 200+ calories depending on how the exercise went during the day. Don't worry about it.
  • @KCJen there are no bad foods. But I find that a pasta salad makes me feel really hungry afterwards. I do a lot better at making it to the next meal if I have lots of protein and lower carbs or whole grain carbs. But if pasta salad is making you happy and keeping you full then yes, you absolutely can lose weight while eating pasta!
  • bradkcrew
    bradkcrew Posts: 1,501 Member
    @KCJen If the pasta salad satisfies you and works with your calories then great! It wouldn't work for me because the tiny portion/calorie ratio would leave me starving and would stimulate cravings for more and more pasta. But we are all different, and as much as we search for a magic formula, we have to filter volumes of expert advice and not so expert opinions to find what works for us as individuals.

    @donna25trinity Same as above, but if you are craving multiple treats, maybe you haven't found the right treat? For me the popcorn works great because it takes a long time to eat for the low calories...especially if you only eat one piece at a time, lol. Also, I have mentioned before the faux Wendy's Frosty that is a game changer for me. (1 frozen banana, 1 cup of 30 calorie Almond milk, ice, a packet of sweetener, and a teaspoon of cocoa powder. I blend it up and eat it with a spoon. It seems decadent, but it is under 150 calories, mostly from the banana! It takes quite awhile to eat also.) Additionally, I have had great success with sugarless gum. It signals my brain that I am done eating and I just chew, chew, chew. Extra brand Sweet Watermelon has flavor that lasts like a half hour--I haven't found that in any other gum, and yes it sounds weird but it's really good!
  • donna25trinity
    donna25trinity Posts: 2,977 Member
    @ashleycarole86 @Caroline_slowandsteady @lesdarts180 and @bradkcrew thank u all so much. All your posts were so helpful. Since reading ur guy's posts it's allowed me to let go of the guilt I was feeling around my treat. It's literally my fave meal of the day so from now on if I hve the calories i'm not going to worry and just enjoy it. Last night I had a fibre one bar with yougurt and blueberries and night before was a huge plate of popcorn with a dash of honey. Thanks for making me feel normal guys. Ha ha!! Xo

    @KCJen I know wat u mean I'm not a huge fan of salads everyday either. I think if ur eating veggies with it and it's wholemeal pasta it's honestly fine.. The old mentality we hve around good and bad foods is not a great one and dw we are all guilty of it. Ha ha. If your opting for a healthy pasta, it satisfys you, tastes good and fills you up you shld go for it. I am a huge bread lover but I was depriving my self of it wen I was on a diet. Now I hve it almost everyday I just limit it to 2 slices and pick a wholegrain one and eat it with a ton of veggies. I love it, makes me happy and makes me stick to my plan. No point foricing urself to eat foods u don't enjoy. Xo

  • @donna25trinity glad to help!
  • donna25trinity
    donna25trinity Posts: 2,977 Member
    @Brad crew ur Wendys recipe sounds devine. I dnt hve the exact ingredients but I'll improvise and see how it turns out.. can't wait! xo
  • Mrs_Hoffer
    Mrs_Hoffer Posts: 5,194 Member
    edited October 2021
    @bradkcrew being the choco-holic that I am..... I wrote your "Frosty" recipe down yesterday as well! I put a banana in the fridge last night so that I can have a frosty tonight for my snack! :) Thanks for sharing!!! #cantwait #chocoholicsunite
  • snowshoe072
    snowshoe072 Posts: 4,454 Member
    Sounds like we all snack in the evening sometimes I can get upstairs before the munchies hit but when they do I try for something healthy, last night was some dry dark chocolate protein granola by Kind. Sometimes it’s a laughing cow cheese wedge with a few crackers but with Halloween around the corner I have had to hide the chocolate!! That’s my downfall so I don’t keep it around except for mini chocolate chips for yogurt.