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Enjoying food while losing weight


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Husband got a serious weightloss wake up call, so we're both trying to eat better together. Since we're stuck with it for life, no fad diets.

Changes so far:

attempting to be aware of portion size (it do creep up when not watched, it do)

Big bowl o' greens as first course (I dont actually like salad. that part is hard!)

No more purchases of potato chips (because there is no self discipline available when the bag is open.)

Make meals last > 20 min - no TV, book or computer. Conversation is good. It slows the meal down.

More vegetables and fruit - some of each with each meal

For me - big glass of water early in the meal.

I think we can keep up 2-6 indefinitely, but 1.... 1 requires constant vigilance.

Its been 7 weeks. Neither of us has hard data on our starting weight, but I'm down between 5 - 10 lbs, and he's down >20.

Love that baked eggs idea. must find time to try it. Any hints? Or just roast away, then throw eggs on top for a short while?

"You dont know everything in the world! You just know how to read!" -an ah-hah! moment for 6-yr old Miss O.

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Changes so far:

attempting to be aware of portion size (it do creep up when not watched, it do)

Big bowl o' greens as first course (I dont actually like salad. that part is hard!)

On the second point, have you considered other vegetable dishes besides salads to start? Or less traditional salads? Since I started Weight Watchers a few months ago, I've been trying to increase my vegetables and eat them first too. I like salads, but don't want a leafy salad every single night, so I sometimes start with -- for instance -- a dish of roasted green beans and garlic chips, or broccoli in a mustard vinaigrette, or (one of my favorites) sugar snap peas and radishes in a horseradish-sour cream dressing.

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Anybody reading this been doing Weight Watchers since before Points Plus and have an opinion on the efficacy of the new program?

I've lost 35 pounds, 25 of them on Weight Watchers before Points Plus. I've lost my way with tracking and I've been at a standstill, but I've also noticed that no one is celebrating any victories in WW -- at least, not like they used to.

I just got back from a trip to New Orleans and I actually gained five pounds in three days! It was fun while it lasted.

Today's my first day back to normal. Ouch.

I like to bake nice things. And then I eat them. Then I can bake some more.

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One of the things I like to do as the weather warms up, and which is compatible with weight loss, maintenance and just healthy eating, is to make up a batch of vegetable salad (or two different ones). They can stay in the fridge for 3 to 5 days. They are a quick snack on their own, a mini meal with the addition of some leftover protein, and are a great supplement to the dinner plate. The more and various the vegetables the better I feel. I started making Melissa Clark's Tuscan Kale salad at Christmas. I did not use the bread crumbs. This week I did a riff on her broccoli salad using fresh lime and orange juice as part of the acid along with balsamic, including a bit of Splenda and dried cranberry for the sweet and some crushed peanuts for interest. I went with garlic olive oil. I am having it now for a late breakfast/early lunch with some shrimp tossed in.

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Anybody reading this been doing Weight Watchers since before Points Plus and have an opinion on the efficacy of the new program?

I've lost 35 pounds, 25 of them on Weight Watchers before Points Plus. I've lost my way with tracking and I've been at a standstill, but I've also noticed that no one is celebrating any victories in WW -- at least, not like they used to.

I started WW at work about 5 weeks ago, and there are about 20 of us. A few people have lost close to 20 pounds on the new system; I'm averaging about 1.5 a week. A friend that is a lifetime member gained with the new system, so she reverted back to what works for her.

I've gained a new appreciation of vegetables in the last month. There's nothing like a plateful of grilled veg to welcome the warm weather!

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Those suggestions sound delicious, JAZ.

I try to eat the veg first, as well as the salad. I may try different types of salad.

The local store sells broccoli slaw - grated broccoli stems. Its good stuff, and I'm not gonna find time to grate all those stems. The peas sound good too.

We sometimes have a clear soup w veg in it instead of the greens.

A friend showed me how to make a head of kale into a bowl of crispiness that disappears quickly, but has surprising staying power. It takes a couple glasses of water to 'activate' the filling part. However, it makes the house smell and takes about 20 min start to finish for a snack that only I like.

"You dont know everything in the world! You just know how to read!" -an ah-hah! moment for 6-yr old Miss O.

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I've heard about that kale "chip" recipe but haven't tried it. Another great non-leafy-green salad is this one for Thai green bean and tomato salad (in fact, I made it tonight). The only thing I do differently from the way the recipe is written is to blanch the green beans for a couple of minutes. (I just don't care for raw green beans.) And since I'm blanching them, I usually don't take the time to julienne them. It makes a nice starter for Asian-style dinners.

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I had this Asian Tuna Salad for lunch today, and it was delicious. I think next time I'm going to add toasted sesame seeds, and maybe add some grated ginger to the dressing. We ate this for second-lunch.

First lunch was my version of white chicken chili - it's got roasted poblanos and fire roasted tomatoes and smoked paprika, among other things, and it's broth based. I cheat a little and add a dollop of greek yogurt.

"Nothing you could cook will ever be as good as the $2.99 all-you-can-eat pizza buffet." - my EX (wonder why he's an ex?)

My eGfoodblog: My corner of the Midwest

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Anybody reading this been doing Weight Watchers since before Points Plus and have an opinion on the efficacy of the new program?

I've lost 35 pounds, 25 of them on Weight Watchers before Points Plus. I've lost my way with tracking and I've been at a standstill, but I've also noticed that no one is celebrating any victories in WW -- at least, not like they used to.

I just got back from a trip to New Orleans and I actually gained five pounds in three days! It was fun while it lasted.

Today's my first day back to normal. Ouch.

My wife and I started WW a few months ago. I refused to go on a diet that restricted any food groups (that includes alcohol) or follows a set menu plan from a book. The whole enjoyment of cooking for me is being creative and cooking on the fly or off the cuff with whatever is at hand. So far I've lost about 20 lbs. I like WW because it is basically a lower calorie diet that uses points instead of calories. In essence it makes you accountable for what passes your lips. After the first month of counting points it has been pretty easy to cook most meals and not count points. I will still try to figure out the points in a dinner that I made on occasion. The weight loss has started to ebb but is still coming off very slowly which I'm okay with. Going to the bourbon sampler in KY this week and having a good time with friends. I expect some weight gain but should be able to reverse.

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Went to Italy this summer.. ate like a king and lost weight!! Fresh is the best!!

I do mostly variations of WW zero count soup for lunch.. But.. I know you have to add protein ( chicken, turkey ,fish, tofu, beans )!!

You need to think snacks in the afternoon.. I like peanut butter and honey.. which gives you the fast glycemic rush with honey.. but peanutbutt gives you sustainability.

Dinner and weekends I eat what I want.. life is to short

Its good to have Morels

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A year or so ago, I finished losing a total of about 40 pounds over a 12-month period. Part of it was working out, but part was changing eating habits.

1. I stopped keeping junk food at home. If I wanted junk food, I went out and got it, but only a single serving package (chips, candy, etc.)

2. I cut way back on cooking sweets, and keeping them around the house.

3. I cut way back on simple carbs (white bread, white potatos, etc.

4. I consciously worked on upping my intake of protein and fiber.

5. I all but stopped eating fast food (no great loss, as it's generally horrible anyway).

What I did NOT do was alter my fat intake much at all, other than what I cut out by abandoning significant quantities of potato chips and French fries and the like. I determined early on I was going to cook with butter, and bacon drippings when called for, and I was not giving up half-and-half in my coffee.

The two big keys to losing weight, I found, were eating breakfast -- something with protein -- and having some protein-filled snacks for midmorning and midafternoon. I found a graham cracker with peanut butter, some tuna salad on whole wheat crackers, or a handful of fruit-and-nut trail mix worked really well in those instances, as I could keep them in my office without much trouble. The midmorning and midafternoon snacks made portion control MUCH easier at lunch and dinner. If I got hungry after dinner, which didn't happen that often, a piece of fruit or a wedge of cheese was generally enough to handle it.

A year or so later, I've gained five pounds or so back, mostly from increased alcohol intake (what used to be a glass of wine a night has become half a bottle...ok, maybe a little more) and edging back into candy (damn you, Christmas, Valentine's Day and Easter!). Part of it was the gym schedule going to hell in a handbasket. Now that there are no more candy-centric holidays until Halloween, and summer with its slower schedule is approaching, maybe I can work on both of those.

Don't ask. Eat it.

www.kayatthekeyboard.wordpress.com

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A year or so ago, I finished losing a total of about 40 pounds over a 12-month period. Part of it was working out, but part was changing eating habits.

1. I stopped keeping junk food at home. If I wanted junk food, I went out and got it, but only a single serving package (chips, candy, etc.)

2. I cut way back on cooking sweets, and keeping them around the house.

3. I cut way back on simple carbs (white bread, white potatos, etc.

4. I consciously worked on upping my intake of protein and fiber.

5. I all but stopped eating fast food (no great loss, as it's generally horrible anyway).

What I did NOT do was alter my fat intake much at all, other than what I cut out by abandoning significant quantities of potato chips and French fries and the like. I determined early on I was going to cook with butter, and bacon drippings when called for, and I was not giving up half-and-half in my coffee.

The two big keys to losing weight, I found, were eating breakfast -- something with protein -- and having some protein-filled snacks for midmorning and midafternoon. I found a graham cracker with peanut butter, some tuna salad on whole wheat crackers, or a handful of fruit-and-nut trail mix worked really well in those instances, as I could keep them in my office without much trouble. The midmorning and midafternoon snacks made portion control MUCH easier at lunch and dinner. If I got hungry after dinner, which didn't happen that often, a piece of fruit or a wedge of cheese was generally enough to handle it.

A year or so later, I've gained five pounds or so back, mostly from increased alcohol intake (what used to be a glass of wine a night has become half a bottle...ok, maybe a little more) and edging back into candy (damn you, Christmas, Valentine's Day and Easter!). Part of it was the gym schedule going to hell in a handbasket. Now that there are no more candy-centric holidays until Halloween, and summer with its slower schedule is approaching, maybe I can work on both of those.

I like your post, kayb.

Darienne

 

learn, learn, learn...

 

We live in hope. 

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My wife and I started WW a few months ago. I refused to go on a diet that restricted any food groups (that includes alcohol) or follows a set menu plan from a book. The whole enjoyment of cooking for me is being creative and cooking on the fly or off the cuff with whatever is at hand.

I like WW for the same reason; I love to cook and didn't want to have to alter my cooking a lot. There are a few recipes that I've changed a bit to make them more "point friendly" -- for instance, I devised a pretty decent "faux" remoulade made with yogurt in place of most (not all) of the mayonnaise -- but mostly, I just make what I want but watch portion size, and I eat a lot more vegetables.

What I did NOT do was alter my fat intake much at all, other than what I cut out by abandoning significant quantities of potato chips and French fries and the like. I determined early on I was going to cook with butter, and bacon drippings when called for, and I was not giving up half-and-half in my coffee.

I have become more aware of the fat I eat, but I too have not cut back all that much. I've found that I can use much less oil for things like roasting vegetables, but if a dish needs fat, I use it. I think a reasonable amount of fat in my diet keeps me fuller longer and more satisfied with the food that I eat. The few times I tried to cut way back on fat I felt hungry all the time.

The two big keys to losing weight, I found, were eating breakfast -- something with protein -- and having some protein-filled snacks for midmorning and midafternoon.

After years of not eating breakfast, I've found that eating it has made a big difference for me too. On the other hand, I haven't really found that snacking works for me, but I know it does for many others.

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As I have posted somewhere on egullet before (don't ask me where :laugh: ), we are another family that can vouch for the low carb method. Without counting calories or following any specific diet plan (e.g. WW), my husband lost about 40 lbs in 5 months by switching to low carb. This was after he has been exercising regularly and really watching what he ate for about 5 years. He went from borderline diabetic and high Blood pressure to normal in the first 2 months.

We started out very strict (for a different health reason in our family). No grains. We quickly added brown rice and other grains (quinoa, wheat berries, steel cut oats). Our best discovery was Dreamfield pasta, made for diabetics - it looks and tastes like white pasta but you absorb very few carbs. We really did not care for whole grain pasta that much.

My husband switched from cereal to greek yogurt and berries in the morning and from sandwiches to salads and protein for lunch. He has not put any weight back on in the last year even thought we now are not as strict. We eat out at least once a week during which we don't follow diet at all, and might cook one or two meals a week at home the same way. My husband cut out beer during the weight loss period and switched to gin and tonics. Now he drinks beer about half the time.

We try to eat a lot of veggies with some protein at each meal and have healthy low carb snacks (e.g. hummus and veggies, olives, nuts, etc) on hand. We do watch fats. We eat a lot of olive oil but try to use other fats sparingly. I love butter for flavor but try to use less or use mostly olive oil with a little butter.

While I didn't really need to lose weight, I have come to love this way of eating because I eat really healthy this way but don't ever feel hungry. When we go to friend's houses or eat out, I eat whatever. It seems that as long as you follow low carb most of the time, you don't have to be overly careful. Our biggest downfall is liquid calories :laugh: .I used to eat cereal or toast for breakfast and then be starving by lunch time and would pigout. It's just changed the way I eat. For the first time ever, I was turned off when I raided my daughter's easter basket for robin's eggs (malted milk balls) - my go to candy at this holiday. I now pretty much only eat dark chocolate for sweet cravings.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I just started WW and I'm kind of surprised how many points one gets. It's not very radical! I've noticed in my circle that people who lose weight and really keep it off all seem to be WW people, so I'm giving it a try.

My frustration comes from their boards, where most people really seem to eat prefab food. I tried to find poached chicken and came up empty but every item on the In and Out Burger menu shows up. The boards are ok but it's really not for serious cooks. I hope never to experience diet mayonnaise but it seems a popular item there. Anyway, I'm giving it a shot, especially since I can do it from the computer and avoid meetings.

I'd love to develop a full Mexican food repertoire of point friendly cooking.

Visit beautiful Rancho Gordo!

Twitter @RanchoGordo

"How do you say 'Yum-o' in Swedish? Or is it Swiss? What do they speak in Switzerland?"- Rachel Ray

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I have never tried any programs but I have found that just using an app on my phone to track calories makes me lose weight. Obviously, entering the information doesn't burn that many calories but I find that I'm more careful about how much I put on my plate and the quality of my snacks if I track everything.

I cook just like I usually do but I watch my portion size and just avoid obvious high caloric ingredients like cream and I avoid techniques like deep fat frying.

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I just started WW and I'm kind of surprised how many points one gets. It's not very radical! I've noticed in my circle that people who lose weight and really keep it off all seem to be WW people, so I'm giving it a try.

My frustration comes from their boards, where most people really seem to eat prefab food. I tried to find poached chicken and came up empty but every item on the In and Out Burger menu shows up. The boards are ok but it's really not for serious cooks. I hope never to experience diet mayonnaise but it seems a popular item there. Anyway, I'm giving it a shot, especially since I can do it from the computer and avoid meetings.

I'd love to develop a full Mexican food repertoire of point friendly cooking.

Bravo and let me in on it too. I am still wavering on the edges of it all wondering how on earth to do this thing once and for all.

Darienne

 

learn, learn, learn...

 

We live in hope. 

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Down another 5 lbs in the past month.

The only things GONE from my diet (compared to the last 35 years) are potato chips.

Cant buy them, or have them in the house. No will power at all.

Mostly its been

*cooking more veg types at each meal (salad, more than one cooked veg)

I have been roasting 4-6 bell peppers at once, skinning them and using them as a salad, sliced w a bit of feta and a small shake of dressing. Chili vinegar works well w the sweetness.

I like roasting broccoli w scads of peeled garlic cloves. Its a nice cold dish too, w a little vinaigrette.

*eating the greens/veg first

* This helps w subsequent portion control.

* adding small breakfasts and lunch. I used to skip most breakfasts and all lunches,

and would be ravenous at dinner time. If I got distracted at all during dinner,

I would just keep eating (and small fry do distract at meal times).

So now I am just really hungry instead instead of Eat Everything In Sight starving.

I dont usually want dessert - which I completely do not understand.

Milk and Cereal is now a dinner food. It drops me too hard mid-morning.

I can live like this.

I have to weigh myself daily and plot it. A 2-day in a row gain means something's got to be rethought (I usually need to increase dinner veg and lunch fruit)(once it was due to my coworkers enormous hawaiian punch jellybeans supply). So, its been a bouncy course but the trend is down.

Edited by Kouign Aman (log)

"You dont know everything in the world! You just know how to read!" -an ah-hah! moment for 6-yr old Miss O.

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I just started WW and I'm kind of surprised how many points one gets. It's not very radical! I've noticed in my circle that people who lose weight and really keep it off all seem to be WW people, so I'm giving it a try.

My frustration comes from their boards, where most people really seem to eat prefab food. I tried to find poached chicken and came up empty but every item on the In and Out Burger menu shows up. The boards are ok but it's really not for serious cooks. I hope never to experience diet mayonnaise but it seems a popular item there. Anyway, I'm giving it a shot, especially since I can do it from the computer and avoid meetings.

I'd love to develop a full Mexican food repertoire of point friendly cooking.

I think one of the key things to learn is to eyeball portion sizes- how much is "x" ounces of chicken cooked. This may require using a scale till you get the feel of it. Then get the points for standard items like oil, starches, proteins in your head or in your files. Once that is ingrained you can get a feel for where you are at in a recipe with points. Many use a program like Mastercook to input their recipes and get the values. Doing that with some of your standards would give you a feel for the calories and points and allow you to make adjustments that make sense for the dish - that cost/benefit analysis as to whether the added calories are significantly contributing to the dish.

Looking forward to hearing about any interesting adjustments or techniques you find helpful.

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I'm going to post something that's probably alien to a lot of you ... but it's never stopped me.

So here goes.

In September 2010, I weighed 152. As of this morning, I was 179.5 at approx. 20% bodyfat. That's almost 4 lbs. a month, give or take a few. Probably around this time next year, I should be somewhere in the low 200s, if all goes well, after which time I may go on a brief cutting diet ... from 205 or thereabouts at 20% BF to say, 185 @ 16% BF. This is just me thinking out loud.

If you're in a caloric deficit by 300 less calories than you normally consume on any given day, that's the same thing as burning 300 calories via cardio, weight training or the exercise of your choice. Now some people choose the former over the latter and that's perfectly fine (in other words, they'd rather eat less as opposed to eating normally and lifting/working out more frequently) ... there's no single right answer to melt those pounds. But the key is your caloric intake and expenditure.

There's also no one correct answer to cooking for weight loss. Personally, I wouldn't recommend the way I'm going to cut to anyone who posts on eGullet, mostly because you probably wouldn't like it.

The diet is called PSMF, short for Protein-Sparing Modified Fast. You can find more information here. Fats will be from fish-oil capsules; carbs from vegetables; protein from mostly animal sources (egg whites, tunafish, lean chicken and fish). There will be fats from my protein sources as well but that's about it. I'll also be working out twice a week, down from my normal 3x a week. Poundages will be lighter and there may be some cardio involved.

It's definitely going to be a far cry from Weight Watchers, I'll say that.

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The diet is called PSMF, short for Protein-Sparing Modified Fast. You can find more information here. Fats will be from fish-oil capsules; carbs from vegetables; protein from mostly animal sources (egg whites, tunafish, lean chicken and fish). There will be fats from my protein sources as well but that's about it. I'll also be working out twice a week, down from my normal 3x a week. Poundages will be lighter and there may be some cardio involved.

It's definitely going to be a far cry from Weight Watchers, I'll say that.

I should mention that I've been through this diet before.

Last time was in 2005. I went from 187 to 171, dropping 16 lbs. in six weeks. It wasn't pretty (Oh, ok, I'll be brutally honest ... I hated every. single. minute. of it (because I love to cook and eat)), but the results were well worth it in the end.

Wish me luck, cuz I'll need it this second time around.

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I'm going to post something that's probably alien to a lot of you ... but it's never stopped me.

Not alien to all.

There's also no one correct answer to cooking for weight loss.

So true.

I like IFing. It works well for me.

The diet is called PSMF, short for Protein-Sparing Modified Fast. You can find more information here.

Great program.

Have you done UD2?

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I'm going to post something that's probably alien to a lot of you ... but it's never stopped me.

Not alien to all.

There's also no one correct answer to cooking for weight loss.

So true.

I like IFing. It works well for me.

The diet is called PSMF, short for Protein-Sparing Modified Fast. You can find more information here.

Great program.

Have you done UD2?

I've been thinking about it but I'm still not looking forward to it, mostly because I've never met a carb I didn't like.

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