Recap: For the month of July I have been focused on a change of diet. I have been reducing the dairy, carbohydrates and sugar that I eat. I have been doing this to avoid future health problems and hopefully lose some more weight. I gained a lot of stress/southern cooking weight and have been working about 2.5 years to lose it.
I have 2 days left. I think I have done fairly well making this lifestyle change, but it was not easy! I did not always stick to it. Luckily, I don't HAVE to eat this way, so when I 'slip up' I can easily get 'back on track' without guilt.
Losing guilt was a big deal, along with learning what to do when I was over come with hunger. Bread, pastry, and cake was always my go to food when the tummy was growling.
So right now I weigh 128.4 lbs. I am 3.4 lbs from my goal of 125 lbs. I give myself 6-8 more weeks of keeping carbs, sugar, and calories down to meet this weight. I probably would have passed my goal by now if I was exercising. Eventually I will get over my aversion to being hot.
Thanks to everyone who encouraged me in this change. I will be continuing my blog with a new topic in August.
Live healthy everyone!
Aimee
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Monday, July 26, 2010
CAKE
Cake how I love you
Cake I adore
From your spongy soft body
To your chocolate icing galore
A moment on my lips
Forever on my hips
Will I love you forever
When I can't get through the door?
Cake I adore
From your spongy soft body
To your chocolate icing galore
A moment on my lips
Forever on my hips
Will I love you forever
When I can't get through the door?
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Give me some of the Sweet Stuff.
Today is the first day I have managed to keep my sugar intake under 50 grams for the day. AMEN.
Eating lite yogurt, sugar free bread, and no sugar added ice cream helped. Eating block cheese as a snack seems to help with hunger too. Doesn't help me when reducing dairy, but I've addressed that in other ways. Such as choosing milk for coffee or milk for cereal instead of both and eating cheese free dinners.
My weight is going down. Nothing drastic, but I understand that weight lost slow and steady stays off better. If I lose 3 pounds more I'll be at my goal weight. I doubt I will do that in 9 days but I might get close.
This is almost exciting.
Eating lite yogurt, sugar free bread, and no sugar added ice cream helped. Eating block cheese as a snack seems to help with hunger too. Doesn't help me when reducing dairy, but I've addressed that in other ways. Such as choosing milk for coffee or milk for cereal instead of both and eating cheese free dinners.
My weight is going down. Nothing drastic, but I understand that weight lost slow and steady stays off better. If I lose 3 pounds more I'll be at my goal weight. I doubt I will do that in 9 days but I might get close.
This is almost exciting.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
I'll have the double grease with fat.
Fast food.
I'm a normal American. I like things quick, easy, and cheap.
On my way up the road or down I pass:
Wendy's, McDonalds, Arby's, Bojangles, Pizza Hut, and a Chinese restaurant within 3 miles of my house.
Go a little farther and mixed in with NUMEROUS sit down restaurants and greasy spoons there is also a Subway, another Wendy's, Hardees, Taco Bell, Starbucks, several mom and pop pizzerias, a fast food/snow cone small business, Uppy's subs, Tuscany's coffee house, Dominos, Vinny's Pizza, Multiple Chinese food places, another McDonalds, and a Sonic.
Literally all this within 10 miles of my house going down 1 main road.
Holy Crap. How am I not 300lbs?
So last night I ask my oldest child if she could have anything for dinner what would it be? (I was feeling nice) So of course she picks fried chicken. Real fried chicken, which means it can't be made by me, because I haven't perfected my recipe yet. So off to Bojangles we go to order a hunk of grease with two sides of diabetic nightmare. I don't care if you rip off the yummy fried flour and only eat half of the piece of chicken, I don't care if you only smell the sides, this meal has no redeeming qualities.
So what have I learned? Don't let the kid choose what's for dinner and don't leave the house hungry.
I'm a normal American. I like things quick, easy, and cheap.
On my way up the road or down I pass:
Wendy's, McDonalds, Arby's, Bojangles, Pizza Hut, and a Chinese restaurant within 3 miles of my house.
Go a little farther and mixed in with NUMEROUS sit down restaurants and greasy spoons there is also a Subway, another Wendy's, Hardees, Taco Bell, Starbucks, several mom and pop pizzerias, a fast food/snow cone small business, Uppy's subs, Tuscany's coffee house, Dominos, Vinny's Pizza, Multiple Chinese food places, another McDonalds, and a Sonic.
Literally all this within 10 miles of my house going down 1 main road.
Holy Crap. How am I not 300lbs?
So last night I ask my oldest child if she could have anything for dinner what would it be? (I was feeling nice) So of course she picks fried chicken. Real fried chicken, which means it can't be made by me, because I haven't perfected my recipe yet. So off to Bojangles we go to order a hunk of grease with two sides of diabetic nightmare. I don't care if you rip off the yummy fried flour and only eat half of the piece of chicken, I don't care if you only smell the sides, this meal has no redeeming qualities.
So what have I learned? Don't let the kid choose what's for dinner and don't leave the house hungry.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
I'm Thinking Arby's
I'm half proud of myself and half irritated. ON the one hand, I had an Arby's bacon and cheese Roastburger with curly fries and still kept my total calories under 1500 for the day. ON the other hand, I need to stop sending the hubby out for fast food every time I feel irritated in the evening. I usually only do it once a week, but still, once is more than I have in the budget.
I've had a lot of feedback on my previous sugar posts. Many people say that naturally occurring sugars in fruits and veggies shouldn't count towards my total. With a 50 gram limit on refined sugars, I'm still struggling. There are 4g in one teaspoon of sugar. I use 5 measured teaspoons in a cup of coffee. So if I drink a second cup I'm screwed by using 4/5 of the daily recommended before I even eat my breakfast. I've been told to get a book about protein diets and told to go to a dietitian recommended by my doc. I'm considering those options.
I'm also looking at other sweeteners that are not artificial to see how they measure up. A serving size of honey is 339 grams. A teaspoon of honey is 7.16 grams. The sugars in a serving size of honey are 278 grams so a teaspoon of honey has approx. 17 grams of sugars. (I didn't do the math so don't yell at me.) Since it's 'naturally occurring' sugars....I guess that makes it better?
Some of the math of eating doesn't make any damn sense.
I've had a lot of feedback on my previous sugar posts. Many people say that naturally occurring sugars in fruits and veggies shouldn't count towards my total. With a 50 gram limit on refined sugars, I'm still struggling. There are 4g in one teaspoon of sugar. I use 5 measured teaspoons in a cup of coffee. So if I drink a second cup I'm screwed by using 4/5 of the daily recommended before I even eat my breakfast. I've been told to get a book about protein diets and told to go to a dietitian recommended by my doc. I'm considering those options.
I'm also looking at other sweeteners that are not artificial to see how they measure up. A serving size of honey is 339 grams. A teaspoon of honey is 7.16 grams. The sugars in a serving size of honey are 278 grams so a teaspoon of honey has approx. 17 grams of sugars. (I didn't do the math so don't yell at me.) Since it's 'naturally occurring' sugars....I guess that makes it better?
Some of the math of eating doesn't make any damn sense.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Sweet Dreams
Yesterday I managed to just barely stay under the daily recommended of sugar. The max you should eat is 50 grams, I ate 49.6 grams.
It wasn't easy. I had to track my food throughout the day on the food journal site instead of at the end of the day.
Yesterday's foods with sugar:
Baked Potato {1 potato before butter and salt}=2.04g
Dark chocolate {3 squares off the bar}=13.08g
chicken nugget {1 nugget}=.05g
yogurt {low fat doesn't mean low sugar!}=12g
orange juice =1.30g
banana {I thought this was good for me!}=14.43g
milk {just what I put in my coffee}=.19g
Sugar {I put in my 2 cups of coffee}=8g
I was shocked that a baked potato and milk contain any natural sugar.
The worse thing I ate yesterday was a banana. Orange juice, dark chocolate, and bananas are good when it comes to serotonin but not when you want to lower sugar. I don't think sugar free banana's exist. I am pretty darn sure that sugar free dark chocolate and O.J. do.
I really enjoy my food and fitness food journal but I wish that it had more brands on it's list. Sometimes I have to find the 'closes thing' to what I really ate. Today I will be writing down the sugar from the labels and keeping track on my own. I know I need to start buying stuff like Splenda but it's hard. $1.98 vs $6.99 hard. I suppose I will just need to make my health worth the $.
It wasn't easy. I had to track my food throughout the day on the food journal site instead of at the end of the day.
Yesterday's foods with sugar:
Baked Potato {1 potato before butter and salt}=2.04g
Dark chocolate {3 squares off the bar}=13.08g
chicken nugget {1 nugget}=.05g
yogurt {low fat doesn't mean low sugar!}=12g
orange juice =1.30g
banana {I thought this was good for me!}=14.43g
milk {just what I put in my coffee}=.19g
Sugar {I put in my 2 cups of coffee}=8g
I was shocked that a baked potato and milk contain any natural sugar.
The worse thing I ate yesterday was a banana. Orange juice, dark chocolate, and bananas are good when it comes to serotonin but not when you want to lower sugar. I don't think sugar free banana's exist. I am pretty darn sure that sugar free dark chocolate and O.J. do.
I really enjoy my food and fitness food journal but I wish that it had more brands on it's list. Sometimes I have to find the 'closes thing' to what I really ate. Today I will be writing down the sugar from the labels and keeping track on my own. I know I need to start buying stuff like Splenda but it's hard. $1.98 vs $6.99 hard. I suppose I will just need to make my health worth the $.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
SUGAR
http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/nutrition/a/fibercounts.htm
http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/nutrition/p/fiberinfo.htm
Found 2 articles on about.com that have some pretty good info on fiber and veggies.
I've been looking over my food journal and I have noticed something. I am doing great on my carbs and calories, but have gone over the daily recommended amount of sugar every time. The worse day I went over by about 45 grams. It may not seem like a lot, but I'm doing this thing to help avoid becoming diabetic later in life. I use sugar in my coffee and tea. OJ has sugar, I started drinking 1 glass everyday to help with serotonin. I ate a red sauce, that has sugar in it. A slice of cornbread has sugar in it! I need to be careful. Since I've been LOW carb eating not NO carb eating I have allowed myself to eat a cookie or 3 at night if I 'behaved' the rest of the day. I also let myself have the occasional bowl of ice cream.
I think the problem is my habit of eating a sweet around 8pm. We started dessert time with our kids years ago. They know that at 8pm it's their last chance to go into the kitchen for a snack. I usually go along with them. I thought I was being good by only snacking on nuts or a couple of dark chocolate squares during the day. I now see I need to have some dessert alternatives for myself at night.
http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/nutrition/p/fiberinfo.htm
Found 2 articles on about.com that have some pretty good info on fiber and veggies.
I've been looking over my food journal and I have noticed something. I am doing great on my carbs and calories, but have gone over the daily recommended amount of sugar every time. The worse day I went over by about 45 grams. It may not seem like a lot, but I'm doing this thing to help avoid becoming diabetic later in life. I use sugar in my coffee and tea. OJ has sugar, I started drinking 1 glass everyday to help with serotonin. I ate a red sauce, that has sugar in it. A slice of cornbread has sugar in it! I need to be careful. Since I've been LOW carb eating not NO carb eating I have allowed myself to eat a cookie or 3 at night if I 'behaved' the rest of the day. I also let myself have the occasional bowl of ice cream.
I think the problem is my habit of eating a sweet around 8pm. We started dessert time with our kids years ago. They know that at 8pm it's their last chance to go into the kitchen for a snack. I usually go along with them. I thought I was being good by only snacking on nuts or a couple of dark chocolate squares during the day. I now see I need to have some dessert alternatives for myself at night.
Monday, July 12, 2010
Hunger Conquered.
The hunger is gone. FINALLY! I dunno if it's the shrinking stomach or the detox from my carb addiction. Either way I'm not craving like I was. YES! I have also developed a strong love for nuts and beans. WTH?
I will say that the struggle now is to keep up the fiber. "Why?" you ask. Take a wild guess. Gonna need to up the Benefiber and water. I'll be looking at those low carb veggies and comparing fiber as well. I use to drink a cup o' joe in the AM and that would 'move' things along, but I switched my coffee to a 'low acid' variety as I made this diet change and it isn't helping me out. However I am not going to throw away my 5 gallon jug 'o joe because it was not cheap. I'll just wait until it's gone and then go back to Dunkin' Donuts brand. It must be full of fiber!
I am proud of myself for keeping my calories lower than 1800, keeping my carbs at least 1/2 of the daily recommended, and my dairy is low fat. I am using this website http://www.everydayhealth.com/members/account/login.aspx?returnUrl=%2ffood-fitness%2fJournal%2f2010-07-01#/1#/3#/6 to keep track of all that btw.
Cheers to day 12 of 31 Hunger Conquered.
I will say that the struggle now is to keep up the fiber. "Why?" you ask. Take a wild guess. Gonna need to up the Benefiber and water. I'll be looking at those low carb veggies and comparing fiber as well. I use to drink a cup o' joe in the AM and that would 'move' things along, but I switched my coffee to a 'low acid' variety as I made this diet change and it isn't helping me out. However I am not going to throw away my 5 gallon jug 'o joe because it was not cheap. I'll just wait until it's gone and then go back to Dunkin' Donuts brand. It must be full of fiber!
I am proud of myself for keeping my calories lower than 1800, keeping my carbs at least 1/2 of the daily recommended, and my dairy is low fat. I am using this website http://www.everydayhealth.com/members/account/login.aspx?returnUrl=%2ffood-fitness%2fJournal%2f2010-07-01#/1#/3#/6 to keep track of all that btw.
Cheers to day 12 of 31 Hunger Conquered.
Friday, July 9, 2010
Crash and Burn
Yesterday was hard. I'm not going to go into great detail, but lots of noise was involved. I don't take lots of noise well. Probably a bad thing since I run a home daycare. I felt like the Grinch complaining about the Who's. "...all the noise, noise, noise, NOISE!"
So I let stress destroy my progress and I ordered from Pizza Hut. A Hawaiian Luau and a Cheese Lovers. I ate 3 pieces and felt sick all night.
Can I get a do over?
So I let stress destroy my progress and I ordered from Pizza Hut. A Hawaiian Luau and a Cheese Lovers. I ate 3 pieces and felt sick all night.
Can I get a do over?
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Just 5 whole almonds
"They" say that you can stave off hunger with just 5 whole almonds. Perhaps "They" can do this after months of shrinking their stomachs. Dammit. A serving size is 24. I ate them all in less than 30 seconds.
As far as cravings go it's eased up. I'm on day 7 of my low carb & dairy diet and the cravings are ok. Last night my kids made chocolate chip cookies. I allowed my self to eat some but to be honest, my stomach hurt after 1.
The hunger is still and issue. Will power is my friend. Despite my hunger I kept myself at 1279 calories yesterday and only ate 1/2 the daily recommended carbs. I went to the store yesterday and bought some veggies and fruits that are lower carbs than most. I think I can snack on those and my almonds (insert eye roll here).
I have decided I cannot give up salt. I tried it yesterday when I ate my boiled eggs. I had no idea eggs were disgusting until eating them without cheese and salt. I didn't miss the cheese, but the salt is coming back. My cholesterol is healthy and I don't typically add it to other foods.
I bought several types of raw beans. They made a debut at our dinner last night. My kids acted like I was trying to poison them but they really tasted pretty good to me. I choked down soggy asparagus so they can suffer a handful of great northern beans.
I am hopeful that changing out the types of vegetables I cook will introduce 'good carbs' that I can use for energy in the future. I haven't felt a loss of vitality but I have been warned it could happen. My concern is more about a loss of naturally occurring serotonin. I have an issue with getting nervous in the evenings. While I have learned my 'triggers' and can usually manage this condition, I don't want to accidentally reduce a natural chemical that I'm already low on in the evening hours. There are some really 'smart' articles on the web that discuss foods which produce or help your body absorb serotonin. Unfortunately most of them are carb filled. I will be doing a lot of reading about this over the next few days. If I can get most of my carbs and serotonin producing foods in the form of veggies I wont have a problem, I think.
As far as cravings go it's eased up. I'm on day 7 of my low carb & dairy diet and the cravings are ok. Last night my kids made chocolate chip cookies. I allowed my self to eat some but to be honest, my stomach hurt after 1.
The hunger is still and issue. Will power is my friend. Despite my hunger I kept myself at 1279 calories yesterday and only ate 1/2 the daily recommended carbs. I went to the store yesterday and bought some veggies and fruits that are lower carbs than most. I think I can snack on those and my almonds (insert eye roll here).
I have decided I cannot give up salt. I tried it yesterday when I ate my boiled eggs. I had no idea eggs were disgusting until eating them without cheese and salt. I didn't miss the cheese, but the salt is coming back. My cholesterol is healthy and I don't typically add it to other foods.
I bought several types of raw beans. They made a debut at our dinner last night. My kids acted like I was trying to poison them but they really tasted pretty good to me. I choked down soggy asparagus so they can suffer a handful of great northern beans.
I am hopeful that changing out the types of vegetables I cook will introduce 'good carbs' that I can use for energy in the future. I haven't felt a loss of vitality but I have been warned it could happen. My concern is more about a loss of naturally occurring serotonin. I have an issue with getting nervous in the evenings. While I have learned my 'triggers' and can usually manage this condition, I don't want to accidentally reduce a natural chemical that I'm already low on in the evening hours. There are some really 'smart' articles on the web that discuss foods which produce or help your body absorb serotonin. Unfortunately most of them are carb filled. I will be doing a lot of reading about this over the next few days. If I can get most of my carbs and serotonin producing foods in the form of veggies I wont have a problem, I think.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Holiday Weekend
I have discovered what some of my mistakes are so far. First lack of planning has bit me in the ass. I really should have planned some menus instead of jumping into a 31 day low carb & dairy diet. Also lack of education. I should have done some research on some filling foods before I started. I've been so hungry but I've managed to at least be reasonable when I dive into a sack o' carbs. The calorie count has been consistently under 1500 a day. Going out for the July 4th fireworks was an ordeal. We were on the beach for 12 hours and everything we brought was outside my plan. I ate what I wanted and hoped to be able to recover this week. I'm going to master this once I slow down and plan some things out. Good news is that my weight is the same as it was on Friday.
I found this article to be very informative (http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4467.) After reading this I know I need to make sure low carb veggies are a part of my diet. I looked up some lists and checked carb content on some veggies and I'll be adding some Benefiber to my daily regime.
Dairy hasn't been as hard as I thought. The day before 'that time' I was sure I NEEDED ice cream, but since then I have been able to stick to only using milk in my coffee or having a bowl of cereal in the morning. I found milk free bread products when I went shopping with only a little jump in my spending.
I'm thinking about this choice and it makes me happy. I have a lot to learn on managing what I buy, but after these 31 days I think I will be able to make some of my choices permanent. I want to avoid the problems that obesity and insulin resistance has done to members of my family. I know that with information and the support of my friends this can be done successfully and that I can be happy with the changes.
I found this article to be very informative (http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4467.) After reading this I know I need to make sure low carb veggies are a part of my diet. I looked up some lists and checked carb content on some veggies and I'll be adding some Benefiber to my daily regime.
Dairy hasn't been as hard as I thought. The day before 'that time' I was sure I NEEDED ice cream, but since then I have been able to stick to only using milk in my coffee or having a bowl of cereal in the morning. I found milk free bread products when I went shopping with only a little jump in my spending.
I'm thinking about this choice and it makes me happy. I have a lot to learn on managing what I buy, but after these 31 days I think I will be able to make some of my choices permanent. I want to avoid the problems that obesity and insulin resistance has done to members of my family. I know that with information and the support of my friends this can be done successfully and that I can be happy with the changes.
Friday, July 2, 2010
Carbs and Milk soooo addicting
So this morning I woke up to day 2 of low carb and dairy. I weighed in and now I'm drinking my beloved cup o' coffee with milk. I like my coffee white.
I did well as far as calories yesterday. I only ate 1123 which is 877 under the 2000 recommended limit. However the 5 chips, 3 pretzels, and the bowl of ice cream shouldn't have happened. My Aunt said you could be addicted to carbs and she is right. At 3am I was in the kitchen scarfing down a Chocolate Chunk cookie and making noises only my husband should cause. I think it was the best cookie of my life. The chips happened suddenly. I was innocently standing in the kitchen, and my kids left a bowl with a few little chips uneaten. Next think I knew 5 of them jumped into my mouth and ran down my throat! It was horrifying. The ice cream is my fault. I wanted it so badly the day before my diet that I sent hubby to get some. I wish it wasn't in my freezer. Carmel Tracks from Breyer's. Who can resist it when it says "1/2 the fat"?
Today I will try and find some pages on food addiction so I can post them tomorrow.
I did well as far as calories yesterday. I only ate 1123 which is 877 under the 2000 recommended limit. However the 5 chips, 3 pretzels, and the bowl of ice cream shouldn't have happened. My Aunt said you could be addicted to carbs and she is right. At 3am I was in the kitchen scarfing down a Chocolate Chunk cookie and making noises only my husband should cause. I think it was the best cookie of my life. The chips happened suddenly. I was innocently standing in the kitchen, and my kids left a bowl with a few little chips uneaten. Next think I knew 5 of them jumped into my mouth and ran down my throat! It was horrifying. The ice cream is my fault. I wanted it so badly the day before my diet that I sent hubby to get some. I wish it wasn't in my freezer. Carmel Tracks from Breyer's. Who can resist it when it says "1/2 the fat"?
Today I will try and find some pages on food addiction so I can post them tomorrow.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Fatty Mc Fat Fat
I know how boring. Your typical blog from a chic who wants to lose weight. Well shut up I didn't twist your arm to get you here. I'll pick a new topic in August. It will be action packed I promise.
I'm Aimee. I'm 33 years old, mother of 3, married 15 years. I have a bad case of "Love Chub". I am committing myself to 31 days of weight loss starting today July 1st. I'm not a doctor or expert of any kind but I feel I have enough information to design my own weight loss program.
1. According to my Aunt Cindi I should low carb. Apparently all females in my mother's family 'blow up' in their 30's because we become 'immune' to insulin. Since carbs make sugar which is countered by insulin which we are then immune to, we gain weight. Also we can be 'addicted' to food so I will be reading up on conquering addictions to food.
2. According to my friend Steph' who is so lactose intolerant she had to make a complete lifestyle change, not eating milk or anything even made with milk is how she got down to a size 4. I will only allow myself milk in my coffee or a bowl of cereal. One or the other.
3. I own a Wii fit and I am close to a park with trails and a nice little beach. I will attempt to overcome my aversion to getting hot and utilize these resources.
I started this morning. Since it's low carb not no carb I ate a bowl of cereal. For lunch I ate 3 slices of low fat turkey which equals a whopping 50 calories. I'm starving. I'm going to drink a huge glass of ice water and see what happens.
Stay Tuned. Or don't it's really up to you.
I'm Aimee. I'm 33 years old, mother of 3, married 15 years. I have a bad case of "Love Chub". I am committing myself to 31 days of weight loss starting today July 1st. I'm not a doctor or expert of any kind but I feel I have enough information to design my own weight loss program.
1. According to my Aunt Cindi I should low carb. Apparently all females in my mother's family 'blow up' in their 30's because we become 'immune' to insulin. Since carbs make sugar which is countered by insulin which we are then immune to, we gain weight. Also we can be 'addicted' to food so I will be reading up on conquering addictions to food.
2. According to my friend Steph' who is so lactose intolerant she had to make a complete lifestyle change, not eating milk or anything even made with milk is how she got down to a size 4. I will only allow myself milk in my coffee or a bowl of cereal. One or the other.
3. I own a Wii fit and I am close to a park with trails and a nice little beach. I will attempt to overcome my aversion to getting hot and utilize these resources.
I started this morning. Since it's low carb not no carb I ate a bowl of cereal. For lunch I ate 3 slices of low fat turkey which equals a whopping 50 calories. I'm starving. I'm going to drink a huge glass of ice water and see what happens.
Stay Tuned. Or don't it's really up to you.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)