How Do you Turn Off Your Brain...

Carrots, beets, lettuce, tomatoes, pineapple, grapefruit, strawberries, white fish..........things like that. You could get fat on that stuff, but it would be a lot harder than on meat, potatoes, pie, etc.

Bella, look for foods that fill you up - have a good healthy breakfast: make an
omelet with low fat cheese and asparagus. It will fill you up and the asparagus
is like a diuretic - so are strawberries. For lunch have a big salad with protein -
chicken,tuna, beef, eggs, cheese, whatever you like. Eat snacks in between, like
celery sticks with peanut butter or cottage cheese with an apple.
For dinner eat protein again: salmon, chicken,beef, with vegetables. You can
eat as many vegetables as you want. The key is to eat more protein as this
satisfies your hunger. Try to cut out sugar altogether.

I also would forego eating too many carbohydrates, like bread, noodles, potatoes, rice. Exchange for whole wheat products.

First, know that you are "mouth hungry" - not really hungry.

If you are really hungry, then eat sensibly. There are "trigger foods" i.e. carbs, that can cause eating binges. The body is actually crying out for these carbs (sugar). So dieting can be difficult. You CAN eat as much Cabbage Soup (Google it) as you want. Consider going to a clinic or entering a program that helps control the sugar swings you may be having.

Get a complete physical, too. Sleep deprivation is tied to obesity. Hangover are really low protein and can kick off the sugar seek, too.

BUT . . . You are probably "mouth hungry" not really hungry.

In that case: go for a walk, brush your teeth, go to the gym, start a project, like cleaning out a closet, in other words, GET BUSY. Sitting around thinking about food is addictive thinking (exaggerated high/love for food that takes over your behavior) and needs to stop before you diet. You may be bored, too.

Are you really ready to diet?


first

sully, you probably don't know, but Bella is working full time, has a baby, husband and two dogs - sitting around isn't one of the things she does.

You are right though, that certain carbs cause eating binges - and if Bella eliminates them from her diet, along with sugar, she'll do better. The more
proteins and vegetables she eats, the less hungry she gets.

When did you have breakfast?

What did you have for breakfast?

had breakfast at 8:45. I had egg subsitute (the equivalant of 2 eggs) with 1/2 slice of cheese in it and 1/2 cup of apple sauce. Around 10:30 I ate some sugar snap peas.

Are you sure you weren't hungry, then?

That seems like a smallish breakfast to me.

Weight-loss-wise, breakfast is the best time to take in calories.

I think if you set unreasonable goals you'll just set yourself up for frustration -- I think you can plan for a substantial breakfast and a morning snack beyond a few snap peas. (A whole piece of fruit for example, like a banana or an orange...)

I forget, are you exercising? I know you're super-busy and that might not be practical for you...

Weight Watchers has a list of satisfying foods. I'll see if I can find a list.

In the mean time... http://www.weightwatchers.com/util/art/index_art.aspx?tabnum=1&art_id=48901&sc=3022.

i've been starting the day with hot cereal lately, real oatmeal, or multigrain hot cereals, i find it fills you up and i'm not nearly as hungry before lunch as i have been in the past

* Eat breakfast. Make sure it's got fiber in it, as that helps you to feel full. Oatmeal is an excellent choice. Add some fat to it, for fullness and flavor and because you actually need some. Walnuts are a good source.
* Track your food. Whether online or in a diary, do it. What's a few peas? Five? Thirty? Know how much you're getting, and check (online is good) re calorie totals. You should not be starving yourself or you really will be obsessed with food. You need to get calories in because (sounds counterintuitive) you will better lose weight if you are not starving yourself.
* Get exercise if you can. Not only is it a calorie burner it is also something you are doing that is away from the refrigerator. Boredom eating contains as many calories as hunger eating so make sure you find ways to assuage your boredom without reaching for food. Not always easy in bad weather. I hate to suggest it, but cleaning is good cardio.
* Space out your meals. I eat about once every 3 - 6 hours. Aim for keeping the tank 1/4 - 3/4 full at all times. This does not mean you are constantly eating. Rather, it means you are giving yourself a little so that you don't end up craving (and eating) a lot. Snacking helps, long as it's on fruit, yogurt, nuts, etc. something good for you and not chips.
* Get junk food out of the house. Make it hard to eat it. You have to get dressed, get the car keys, etc.
* Make good food appealing and easy to get, in the house. E. g. cut up vegetables, clean fruit and put it in a nice bowl. Make it easy to grab an orange if you're hungry. Make it easy and natural to make a better selection.

Hope these help!

Oatmeal makes me starving by 10a. I don't know why.

It doesn't matter, Bella. Eat some celery sticks with peanut butter at 10 am -
celery sticks are like licorice, they are a natural appetite suppressant and will tie you over until lunch. If you don't like celery sticks then use an apple with peanut butter.

I started this morning off with oatmeal and coffee from home. I didn't have any snacks last evening and am feeling pretty good today about my new lifestyle.

Go Bella!

Probably because it's a grain. A whole grain, yes, but still a grain. What happens if you eat an omelet instead? I agree that a protein based mid-morning snack is a good idea, but I would make sure your breakfast is high in protein and low in carbs as well.

One good rule of thumb that I learned years ago is that no meal should have a carb/protein ratio of greater than 6:1. In other words, if your 350 cal breakfast contains 60g of carbohydrates it should contain at least 10 gms of protein. Carbs and protein both contain 4cals/gm. Fat is 9cals/gm. Carbs and protein should combine (in the proper ratio) for 75%-80%, with the rest coming from quality fats.

Also, there's a big difference between instant oatmeal and steel-cut oatmeal. The instant kind is highly processed and usually contains a lot of sugars that add onto the carb count without the associated protein boost.

Good point! I hadn't thought of that JPB. I did eat the instant kind. It's so much easier!

Bella, do you have things like a specific overall calorie # in mind for every day's eating? A deficit of 3500 calories is a pound, so if you give yourself a 250 calorie deficit every day (e. g. 1750 calories versus 2000, or 1800 calories versus 2000 but with some cardio), you have the potential (it's not a straight line or a sure thing) to lose a good half a pound a week, which is a decent rate. Most people intake more than 2000 calories/day when they start to think about dieting, so you could find yourself with a more significant caloric deficit and the potential for a greater loss.

If you eat 2100 calories/day (I'm using the # because it's easier to do the math), then you more or less want to break it down as follows:
735 calories carbs
735 calories protein
remainder (630) calories fats, further broken down as follows ~
210 calories monounsaturated fat (olive oil, nuts)
210 calories polyunsaturated fat (low fat margarines, fat from plants)
210 calories saturated fats (fats from meats, coconut, full fat dairy)

A fat gram is 9 calories, so 210 calories of fat is 23+ grams of fat, and the total # of fat grams is 70. The proportions aren't perfect and you shouldn't worry if you don't follow it to the letter. But the big idea is, yes, you can eat some fat but less than 1/3 of your calories, and then divide that more or less into thirds. If you need to watch cholesterol, tip the fat balance in favor of more mono- and polyiunsaturates. And stay away from trans fats if you can.

For the remainder of your calories, carbs and protein can be equal. A lot of people have a love affair with carbs and I am one of them. Putting together more of a balance means that you eat different things, which is generally better for nutrition and more likely to keep your weight loss from plateauing in the future. Protein is also good for muscle building whereas carbs are used for energy.

One of the reasons why low carb diets have worked for people is that it's actually just a fancy way of getting a caloric deficit. Another reason is because usually people stop eating so much garbage (e. g. what are called "bad carbs") in favor of better fare ("good carbs"). But it's not just in terms of differing carb types of whatever (glycemic index), it's also that you're often eating things with less processing, less salt and less refined sugar, which will also help you to lose. But caloric deficits are how you lose weight, and being careful about the makeup of the calories that you do eat makes it easier to do cardio and also easier to survive cravings and stave off hunger unless your body really does need food.

Thanks Jes. I am aiming for 1400 cals a day. Give or take a few. I also know that if I cut out pop and carbs I will most likely lose weight. Simply because those are my downfalls. I eat a lot of carbs.

You are all so smart....just wondering what your take on psyllium husk is. From what I read, if you take some before your meal with a glass of water, it fills you up so that you don't WANT to eat as much.

Combined with a healthy diet, I can see this working for me, because I do tend to over eat, even stuff that isn't "bad" for me. I don't want to feel hungry but I also don't want to do something that is harmful.

What do you think?