I put some pre cooked strips of steak in the slow cooker with 2 bags of Birds Eye Steamers ( broccoli, carrots, water chestnuts, and snow peas )… and a green pepper, a red pepper, and onions so I guess we are having pepper steak on REAL rice!…. It smells good and for around 500 calories I get a huge bowl of it!

We have been wild about asparagus this spring….( it is spring here )…. I put the spears on a sprayed pan and mist the asparagus with olive oil…sprinkle with pepper and sea salt bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes…..sprinkle it all with an ounce of real grated Parmesan cheese and bake 10 more minutes…..it is so good!

Tonight was sliced Zuchinni in Prego with peppers,onions, and shredded Colby jack….baked, hot and yummy

As a veg eater... you probably need to combine your pulses and beans with other sources of protein because they do not plentifully contain all the amino-acids. I mean it is not a religious 1:1 need. And taking in extra protein helps in this because even when "low" in a particular amino-acid eating LOTS of a "low" source may even bring things up to the necessary level (I mean you only need 100% of whatever it is you need, 101% is not *needed*) You could log things at crono which offers a breakdown to see how things would be working out for you and if you would be missing anything... assuming your source inputs listed amino-acids correctly.

My yogurt doesn't for example but had I used the NCCDB entry, which I will in the future, it would show, as expected, that a tub of yogurt is actually more than enough protein for a day as it covers ALL amino acids at more than 100%.

I can't comment on mental hamster handling other than to say that what is perceived as the exact same action by an outsider may have extremely different internal meaning and motivation to two different people.

I will comment that thousands of people do "keto". I don't know of many ways that one can do "keto" while eating grains.

I know that I "cut" carbs when I was losing most of my weight. It was a WILD cut all the way down to 44% plus with fats being 32% and protein 24% during my first year of MFP losses. The additional calories afterwards pretty much all went to carbs... changing the general percentages to 52 to 55%, about 18% to 20% for protein (my minimum 120g would be about 16.5% based on total calories) and the rest fats...

Anyway. Point being fiber and micronutrients maybe would argue against? And motivation. And thought process? Are you "cutting all these evil things", or are you INCREASING all the other GOOD things you would rather have TODAY?

Are you giving them way too much power? Is it the phyllo pastry? Or is it the delectable dessert made out of the phyllo pastry?

But I won't argue that SOME things are worth it and other aren't at any particular point of time... that's MY belief.... everything and anything just not all of it all the time and in unlimited quantity....

Blah Blah Blah

You emit the most useful, thoughtful Blah Blah Blahs ever, PAV.

Maybe I'm giving them way too much power? But I can't help but feel that maybe they really do wield that much power. I'm okay with them in delectable desserts because those ARE delectable treats and should be cherished and treated with the greatest respect. I just don't find them worthwhile in sandwiches, cereals or side dishes and those are the kinds of things I could easily get along on alone if I felt too harried to prepare a proper meal.

I'm kinda cutting the evil things from the menu MOST days so that I can (WILL?) fill up/nourish my body with an abundance of other good things.

I don't/can't buy the KETO theory of cutting fruits and most veggies (????) - so won't/can't use that as a guideline for whether or not I "should" be eating grains.

What's with everyone and 75g pasta? I've seen it somewhere else the past couple of days! 85g and 300 Cal is what the average pasta box says around here!!!!

My spiralized beetroot is objectively Superior in every which way other than color to your colorifically dense and nutritional puny 0-0 powdered dried grass seed and water-based concoction especially if it's not freshly made but has been Factory dried! 🙀🙀🙀🙀😹

Okay pasta is not bad but spiralized beetroots are a revelation with a correct complementing sauce! 😘

has anyone seen our @AlexandraFindsHerself1971 ?

I know I posted here this afternoon ... something about pizza being a delectable treat but it is gone gone gone

Dinner tonight will be my first takeout in over 2 years, because I'm taking MIL to the hospital for an ultrasound at 19:15 and she's requested chinese takeout as a reward for the 24 hour fast she has to endure prior to the scan.

I'll order wisely....

I get that, Connie.
And, I wouldn't give up real pizza crust either - but I have shifted to thin crust which I've come to really like!

There is give up. Bad 🐹 hamster mojo.

There is find something better (or close enough to equal for you because reasons) that you can use instead and be happy.

There is mitigation and damage control.

There is indulgence on occasion.

Examples:
Pasta; candy bars; mayonnaise
-- omg they're evil I'll never eat them again = 🐹🤬🤬🤬

-- Dang: this spiral beats thing contrasting sweet and hot when you spice it and with a nice crunch? That's actually pretty dang good tasting (as are broccoli/cauliflower/carrots riced for rice) 🐹👍 and filling. And low calorie. So I can be crying for not eating pasta, or happy that I'm not taking care of myself and eating something tasty enough on its own.

Similarly for the Rx protein bars, and clif bars instead of candy. Taste good enough. Don't quite give the candy hit (Rx less so than clif re hit). But hey, at least they fill me up a bit longer and I've name a smart move for myself so happy 🐹😎

And mayo--yogurt. Actually I stopped adding Mayo so long ago and replaced it with mustard that I don't even consider it. But making egg salad or potato salad with yogurt was a new thing. And a revelation in terms of not tasting bad at all especially with the addition of say powdered mustard, paprika, or Curry not necessarily all at the same time! 🐹👍

Mitigation and damage control is when trying to talk Dad into trying some of these things. So lightning up by using 50-50 mixes. Or saving the pasta experience for only fresh handmade high-end pasta something like only eating special dark chocolate.

And then there's the indulging on occasion either because you're out or with other people or because you feel like it. And even then I've certainly ordered flour only or light battered fish and chips instead of normal at times. And a two piece plus mushy peas instead of all you can eat fish and chips which I used to do.

But either you have to be approaching this with the desire to experiment and the goal to develop the magical filling low calorie perfectly tasting concoctions that will be perfectly acceptable for you long-term (and actually mean it sooner or later), or you can be approaching this as a disaster that has befallen you that is obliging you to put away everything you love, your identity etc etc

Some things are negotiable to people others aren't.

Priorities can change over time.

Not everything has to be resolved at once and a lot of things can change over time

But the decision of putting things up on the chopping block for evaluation has to come from within because of the desire to actually make changes.

I'm not a psychologist. I suspect a lot of 🐹 handling tricks can be learned from professionals who I have not had the privilege to work with.

But over the years it has always been a surprise to discover, after things changed, how previous perception and reality were not always aligned and were not what they appeared to me to be.

Trust me I didn't even believe I was addicted to nicotine till for financial reasons as a student I started using nicotine gum and discovered that magically 20 minutes after chewing this active ingredient I no longer wanted the cigarette i previously wanted "just because it would feel good"

Or more in terms of the food how deeply I believed, while I was obese, that my mood was in no way affecting my eating. And that I just enjoyed a lot of food as opposed to engaging in episodes of significant overeating. Much of it caused by incorrect thinking about what I was doing and / or COULD do.

Desire to change and explore DIFFERENT NEW things and options is very helpful I think in 🐹 framing changes in life.

At least it was for me once I decided that the previous situation was no longer acceptable to me. And that a LOT more things were on the table for re-evaluation than just food. Work. Focus on myself. Things like that.

We will find new ways to be thin, content, sated people. Who just happen to be exceptionally hot

I'm still looking for a decent low carb pasta recipe to try out. I've tried a few but none really tasted all that great, and for me, zoodles of various kinds just don't substitute for pasta. I can have pasta, but the hubby in his attempt to get back low carb cannot. And the vegetable pastas in the grocery stores are just as high in carbs as the regular pasta, so no bueno there.

But last grocery trip, I found something called Pastabilities which is much better on the carb front, with one serving have 17 net carbs, so I'm giving it a whirl tonight in making a marinara pasta dinner. Homemade spaghetti sauce with mushrooms and bell pepper and a jar of my canned hamburger meatballs. I'm debating on whether to bake it or not; if I can hold the calories for cheese until dinner, I can put a little parmesan and shredded cheese on it and bake it, but we will see how I do.

@bmeadows380 - I think this could serve you well? I'm aiming for grain free more than low carb - so I'm not sure how good the carb numbers look for you. But I have really enjoyed this spaghetti. Lots of protein too! It has a nice feeling of chew like al dente pasta - with a flavourful sauce I thought it was quite fine.

https://livivafoods.com/products/organic-soybean-spaghetti