Second time around and desperate.

pamelaory · February 12

Hello, this is my second time trying logging all my food in hopes that it will help me get healthier and lose weight. I tried once about 4 or 5 years ago and lost a few pounds but didn’t stick with it. At that time, I was a pre-diabetic. Now, I’ve graduated into full blown type 2 diabetes. I’m desperate for this to work as my numbers are terrible for triglycerides, alc, and cholesterol.

My doctor put me on ozempic and I’m hopeful that it will help control the cravings long enough for me to develop some better food habits and skills.

Anyway, I’m glad you are all here.

Rxman1971 · February 13

Good luck

springlering62 · February 13

Welcome Back @pamelaory

Can I make a suggestion?

Your words indicate the path you will follow. “Desperation” implies aiming for quick loss.

I bet that’s what you tried last
time, and gave up in frustration, hunger, anger, exhaustion.

Take it slow this time. You have all the time in the world.

If you “only” lose half a pound a week, that’s 26 pounds by this time next year. My husband was obese and diabetic, and his numbers changed a lot after losing just twenty.

Slow it down. Ask your soctor to refer you to a dietician and go in armed with a food diary and a list of questions so you can use every previous minute of your visit.

Get a fitness tracker. Learn the relationship between, say, a three mile walk and a package of cookies. I was naive enough I thought the walk offset the whole package. Nope, it barely covered a serving size- 2 lousy cookies.

That was a huge moment for me, understanding and bridging the knowledge gap between in and out.

Start with small changes. No sugar in coffee. Less creamer. (I found a hand pump frother that almost fills my coffee cup with lavish milk froth using 1/3cup skim milk.) Substitute water or diet drinks for soft drinks. Eat a piece of fruit or carrot sticks in lieu of one processed food a day. Small steps.

I learned that as I paid attention to what I ate, I literally cut my daily calories by 80%, felt fuller, and certainly got more nutrition.

Read these boards daily for tips, suggestions what (and what not) to do.

I lost ten dress sizes and have been mainaining for over five years now. I started as a senior, postmenopausal, nutritional idiot who was eating in excess of 10,000 calories a day-
Mostly candy, cookies pie donuts etc. If I can do this you can do it, but just downloading the app and complaining (which I’ve done) doesn’t do anything.

It requires a degree of application.

And change your vocabulary. You’re not “desperate”. You want to do this for yourself. You deserve this. You can do it. You are in control of your own health.

pamelaory · February 13

I typed out a nice long reply then hit the wrong button and lost it. 🤪. Let me see if I can sum up:

Thank you so much for your thoughtful reply Springlering62. I met with a dietician on Tuesday and am currently keeping a log for her. I realized I don’t know how to cook healthy meals, I’m excited to learn some new ways to nourish myself.
I’ve got my smart scale, Apple Watch, and my fitness pal app. Synced and am tracking everything at the moment. I know what you mean about learning how much food exercise “buys” you. lol. I’m having to reframe why I’m doing the exercise. I’m doing it to help get myself back to a healthier state when I could hike etc. not to enable eating more calories.
I’m hoping the ozempic will buy me enough time without the wild cravings to establish some healthier eating habits and learn some new skills.
Thanks for sharing your inspiring story!

springlering62 · February 13

It makes me so happy to see someone putting all the tools in place!

Go, you!

totameafox · February 13

Hello Pamela,

I also have diabetes. I take metformin and glipizide. I've rearranged my eating habits quite a few times and was able to lower the medication I take. The first time I took out high glycemic foods which was scary at first because I knew that rice was a stable of mine the previous time I lost weight. But I switched things up and made my doctor happy... until I didn't.

This time I'm just eating normal portions of everything, even rice and my blood sugar is stable. I actually eat the same volume of food, maybe even more because I'm preparing the meals and including more vegetables for the fiber.

I'm sure you will figure out a meal plan that will work for you.

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/147555-speak-friend-and-enter

pamelaory · February 14

Thanks Totameafox.

I’m hoping to learn how to cook healthy meals through this. I’m great at making spaghetti (tonight’s dinner) but I’ve secretly envied people who can cook those amazing meals I see advertised for food plans and such. I agree that it’s about moderation. I had a fulfilling plate of spaghetti tonight and the tracker still said I would lose a few pounds in 5 weeks at this rate. Not to shabby.

springlering62 · February 14

Beware the tracked, aka Destroyer of Dreams. It drives a lot of people here bonkers because they don't understand that every day is NOT the same as today.

You’ve obvs got more sense than that.

I’ve found ground chicken works great in Italian dishes, especially lasagna. I mix a generous bit of Italian herbs or herbs de Provence into the ground chicken, let it absorb the flavor for a couple of days, and then brown it in a dry, un-oiled pan. Be sure to break it up while it browns, because (like sausage), it clumps.

You’d never know it wasn’t Italian sausage.

My ninja frying pan is tha bomb. You preheat it, and can “stir fry” veggies, brown diced or cutlet chicken, and more with zero oil and it tastes great.

springlering62 · February 14

I had a Taylor Farms Mediterranean Crunch salad last night, topped with diced, browned chicken I’d hit with a sprinkle of Lawry’s/ season salt.

Half the bag + 7 ounces chicken was 428 calories, a ton of protein, and nutritious greens.

And it was delicious.

pamelaory · February 14

That sounds delicious Springlering62! Thanks for the tip about using ground chicken in place of sausage, I’ll have to give that a try.

dmkoenig · February 14

Springlering62 has some great suggestions. I try to minimize simple carbs like pasta and rice as much as possible, and look for healthier alternatives. Quinoa is a great sub for rice, and you can get inventive with pasta replacements by using spaghetti squash instead or making zoodles from zucchini with a spiralizer. A zucchini is like 4g carbs and almost no calories. Food prep is your friend, there is a lot of fat, sodium and sugars in prepared packaged food to make it taste better. If you are serious about making a healthy lifestyle change it will reset your trajectory. Good luck!

TinaBrenton · February 14

Welcome Pamela
I know the frustration I have done this so many times, I too am starting once again.
@springlering62, your comment is so inspiring, even though this is not my post thank you for leaving such positive reinforcement I am definitely taking your advice as well.

pamelaory · February 14

Thank you Dmkoenig and TinaBrenton!
I have heard of zucchini spirals instead of noodles but haven’t tried it yet. I’m going to have to make a point of it. Tina, we got this!

springlering62 · February 14

Brief hijack….

@dmkoenig every time I make zoodles they turn into a soupy mess. I’ve tried draining, pressing, salting, decanting them into paper towels.

If there’s a trick, please share.

dmkoenig · February 18

This is a good site for explaining how to prepare zoodles. https://downshiftology.com/recipes/how-to-make-and-cook-zucchini-noodles-the-most-popular-methods/.

I personally use a spiralizer made by Mueller which holds the zucchini vertially instead of horizonatally. The mush issues comes into play if you overcook them, since zucchinis are 95% water. Really, you don't need to cook them at all, they can be served in their raw state or microwave them so they warm up a bit. If you try to cook them like pasta then you will likely end up with mush.

Second time around and desperate.

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