Enjoying food while losing weight

[AAQuesada]

Vegetables ate free too. And plain chicken broth.

So, does anyone have clever salad dressing ideas? I like oil/vinegar, ranch, blu cheese- I like it all but I like to use a lot of it. I thought Fage and Salsa would work. It didn't. Any clever ideas or so I need to learn to like a drier salad?

Try thickening veg stock to oil consistency with arrowroot, chill and use it as most or all of the oil in standard vinaigrette. For mayo based you could sub miracle whip or make your own boiled dressing and mix with non-fat yogurt as a base for ranch/blue cheese dressings.

[rancho_gordo]

Oh, that's clever. And a use for that bottle of Arrowroot that's been sitting around with nothing to do!

Had a debauched 4 days in Kansas City (arrogant Californian asks, Kansas City- who knew?) including all the booze I wanted, BBQ (Bryants and LC's), farm dinners, restaurant dinners, a home dinner and brunch at Lidia's and I only gained a pound! Now all I really want is boiled vegetables for a few days but I wonder if three weeks on WW helped the attack of rich food.

[JAZ]

A few weeks ago I taught a "point-friendly" cocktail party class. I made jerk pork tenderloin skewers with pineapple salsa, cherry tomatoes stuffed with shrimp in a remoulade sauce, cucumber canapes with herb yogurt cheese, pizza bites, and masa cups filled with red chile chicken. Also a couple of cocktails, not that you can do much to make alcohol point-friendly. It was fun, but challenging. I think the students appreciated the fact that I didn't use any "diet" foods in the recipes.

I'm going to see if I can teach some more WW-inspired classes next quarter.

[Darienne]

Good topic with lots of good ideas. But nothing since June. Between the Mexican and Chinese...which nobody mentioned...and lots of vegetables, cooked and raw, one could survive very well. For instance, we like to eat Szchewan Hot and Sour soup regularly.

I have kept my increased weight steady for a few years now at about 30 pounds more than I need. OK. So I wasn't really going to go for it again. Ever.

Then Spinal Stenosis reared its ugly head again and as we all know, every pound carried contributes greatly to hip and leg pain...of which I have a sizable portion, pain, that is. What to do? My chiro tried to convince me to try the meal replacement plan which he sells. No way, thought I. It's all powders and capsules, nothing real or human. And taste good? Not on your life. And we all know that weight off quickly never stays off.

But then...but then...the pain is now. And not being able to stand or walk for any time at all. Get the weight off however you can, properly or not, and then one last kick at the can.

The short answer is: yes it works. I don't care if it's water loss...it's still pounds off my damaged spinal nerves.

Has anyone ever used one of these meal replacement plans and had it work to any extent? Or am I about to be hammered by one and all?

[Darienne]

Sorry...it was too late to edit my post. I should have added that this plan, at this stage, allows for one meal of 'food' and this is, of course, a concern. No way I could eat like this forever...

We do have a raw salad every second night with either some beans, meat or cheese and then every other night is a soup or a light meal. We do eat a light meal at suppertime anyway.

Tonight is a raw salad, greens mostly, with an oil & lemon dressing with some black beans. Any real food tastes delicious at this point.

Edited October 15, 2011 by Darienne (log)

[Viktoria]

I recently read a book that made a lot of sense to me. It was called "good calories, bad calories" by Gary Taubes. Taubes is a science journalist for some well respected professional science journals, as well as The New York Times, etc. In this book he went back and looked at all of the diet and nutritional studies in the literature, and tried to summarize what the data really says, primarily for cardiac risk, but also for obesity. His conclusion is that there isn't a lot of data to support the low fat, high carbohydrate diet that has been mainstream for the last 40 years or so. Of course the premise and book are not uncontroversial. The book is dense with a good deal of breaking down of individual studies. It's certainly not an easy read. But as a scientist myself, it really resonated with me.

He's written a more recent book, called "why we get fat" or something like that, which is an easier read and expands on some of the themes in his first book.

Neither of these is a diet book, neither has a detailed menu plan or anything. But I've changed my eating habits since reading that, as well as my families. After about a month, I noticed a dramatic change in my hunger and full signals, as well as my sugar cravings. I dont really snack anymore unless i'm hungry, which is rare except at mealtime. 2 months in and I've lost 15 pounds without counting anything. And I've found the concept of balance and moderation easier to follow.

My husband is tired of hearing me talk about it. But for someone who's had a weight problem for much of my life and still has more weight to lose, to be without food anxiety is nearly a miracle, further weight loss or not.

[Kerry Beal]

Heard a great discussion on the CBC radio the other day by Dr Jay Wortman - discussing the science behind low carbohydrate diets. His blog here for those interested.

I recall the first time I went low carb - following a book called "Martinis and Whipped Cream" (actually found a copy of it at a thrift store last week). There was no good explanation in that book as to why it works, but the science has certainly supported it since.

[Viktoria]

Also, Darienne, I'm very sorry to hear about your spinal stenosis. Hopefully you get some relief soon. I've heard good things about acupuncture and pain treatment.

-Viktoria

[Viktoria]

As a physicist, I find it challenging to read bio and medical studies, because it's nearly impossible to control all variables, and many rely on subjective self reporting. But NIH and NSF (the two major science funding agencies in the US, as well as smaller investment by other federal agencies and private funding) are more and more willing to fund rigorous studies in this direction. It's also far less of a career breaker for the scientists as well, to voice support for low-carbohydrate, even though the exact mechanism isn't known yet.

[sparrowgrass]

I found out in December that my blood sugar was high--pre-diabetes is what the doc says, but I think pre-diabetes is like being 'a little bit' pregnant.

I have been doing low carb--less than 30 carbs per meal, sometimes 0 carbs per meal. Almost no grain, no sugar, no potatoes. I eat a little barley now and then.

Lots of green leafies, broccoli, celery, etc, and meat.

I have lost 25 pounds since Dec. 1, and, more importantly, my blood sugar monitor says I am doing a good job.

No cravings, but I do miss popcorn.

It is October now, and I have lost about 60 pounds. I do have a little popcorn once in while, and have found that a slice or two of pizza doesn't jack my sugar up.

[Viktoria]

Wow! Sparrowgrass, that's phenomenal! Congratulations!

[Darienne]

Ditto Viktoria, from me too. :wub:

[jrshaul]

I've lost about 50lbs recently, and would make the suggestions below:

1. Fiber seriously cannot be overemphasized. I now eat a bowl of sugar-free shredded wheat every morning. It tastes like horse fodder, but it's not very caloric and I stay so full I have to remind myself to eat lunch.

2. Snacking on fruit when you're really hungry is a bad idea. I always seem to get a big blood sugar spike, and then get "I must eat my entire refridgerator" hungry later.

3. Even if you're *not* hungry, eat a decent lunch - say, 300 cal for a 175lb male. This way, you avoid the afternoon crash and eating the half-pound of ganache in your refridgerator.

4. Things are often not as they seem. Frozen meals are often quite carb-heavy and don't have much fiber, which is less than ideal. However, a Trader Joe's chicken burrito has about 360kcal - only about 20% more than frozen meal - and a lot more protein and fiber from all the beans. I eat 'em for dinner twice a week.

5. Eat more spinach.

[Darienne]

And congratulations are headed your way too, jrshaul.

[Viktoria]

I have a question for folks: Do you make diet versions of things, or do you prefer the original in much more managed amounts. In other words when it comes to sweets or certain favorite dishes, regardless of what diet plan you follow, do you make major substitutions or would you rather wait till you could have the real thing.

I've seen people like 'hungry girl" and others make all sorts of weird concoctions to replace fried chicken or fat free salad dressing, etc on the diets that are low fat. Likewise I've seen even stranger versions of things like pumpkin bread or lasagna for low carb-ers. Some dessert recipes call for cups of sugar substitute.

Cooking and baking are a huge part of my life. In the past I guess I have made "slimmed down" versions of treats (however sweet or savory you define them). This time around I seem to have a great reluctance to attempt diet friendly versions of food that I love. I'd rather wait and indulge once in a great while, than to have a low fat, no sugar, no carb (or whatever) "treat" every night.

How about you? What are your "can't do withouts", or favorite subs?

[ElaineK]

It depends (doesn't it always?).

I'm generally avoiding refined grains, but Thai food just isn't the same with brown rice. My husband requested pumpkin (kabocha) curry for dinner tonight. I kicked around brown rice, or serving it as soup, and ended up serving a shrimp and mango salad, swiss chard with ginger and oyster sauce, and pumpkin curry with white rice. I don't make Thai very often, and the salad and chard brought it much more in line with my diet goals.

A few weeks ago I was craving cake, and ended up making a lemon and almond polenta cake with olive oil. It was a relatively traditional, not too sweet, Italian recipe. I used real sugar, made a 6" cake instead of a 9" cake, cut myself small (but delightful) slices and just counted it as a sweet treat.

I'll gleefully substitute greek yogurt for sour cream, though. And healthier oils for most of the misc-fat when I'm cooking. I've swapped corn tortillas for chips, broccoli or cauliflower or polenta for pasta (or sometimes rice), mushrooms or chickpeas for meat. Sometimes it works well, and I'll do it again, and sometimes I write it off as "tasted very healthy."

This attempt at weight loss is much more about fixing my head and my habits than my plate, though. It's not "OMG, chocolate chip cookies are BAD, I must eat broccoli!" It's "Yeah, the chocolate chip cookies smell really good, and they're delicious, but I'm not hungry now. They'll still be here tomorrow when I'm hungry again." So(in general) substitutes are a matter of simplifying. I won't use enough sour cream to justify buying it, but I do use greek yogurt. Chips go stale before I eat them all, and corn tortillas seem more flexible.

[Darienne]

I'm with ElaineK on the yogurt switch. It's still full fat, but it's not sour cream.

And I'm with her on the 'it depends' angle too. Somethings I pare down...others I do without until I feel I can afford the break. And still others I simply take a tiny portion. And still others I just ban from the house.

We have one tradition in our family which I love. One night ever couple of weeks, we have Dessert as Dinner night. Rather than dessert being an add-on, after you are already sated; dessert is dinner. Of course I am not talking about chocolate cake, but rather a dessert which takes in eggs, dairy, fruit, nuts, and grains. But a real dessert...not a pared down one. Well, except for subbing yogurt for whipped cream sometimes.

[Dejah]

I just started, 7 days ago, a diet called 17-Day Diet by Dr. Mike Moreno. It consists of four 17-day cycles: Accelerate (cleansing), Activate, Achieve, Arrive.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1374881/17-day-diet-Dr-Mike-Moreno-promises-quick-fix-drop-pounds-fast.html

It's for losing "belly fat" but I just want to lose fat all over! There are no carbs allowed in this first cycle except of little bits that might be used in a recipe. For me, it's that tsp. of cornstarch for a sauce when I really need it. Whole grains are introduced in the second 17-day cycle.

One of the questions in this thread was do you make substitions in regular recipes. That's what I do. I basically follow the allowable ingredients list and make up my own recipes. For example, I made "shepherd's pie" with lean ground turkey, the topping was steamed mashed cauliflower. All the ingredients were allowed in this cycle, and the result was tasty.

Eating yogurt with fruit or sugar-free full fruit jam or spread is great for quick breakfast and snacks. I find I have to have some protein and fat in the morning or I am starving by 11 am.The yogurt

fills that bill very nicely. The book recommends probiotic or Greek yogurt.

Fish is another protein allowed in this first cycle. I marinated tilapia fillets with olive oil, a little soy sauce, lemongrass, citrus pepper, lemon juice, then wrapped around asparagus. These were pan seared and finished off in the oven. There was a fair amount of marinade so I made a reduction and served it with the fish. I am turned off by cooking everything with tomato, so this was a good option.

I DO miss rice, but grated and steamed caulitflower provides a good "illusion", and it tastes great with any "sauce". Our meals are usually eaten with stir-fried mixed vegetables or a big salad.

The hardest part was drinking 8 glasses of water everyday, one of which is hot water and lemon juice firsat thing in the morning. I have a hard time drinking that much cold water, but hot water I can handle. So, I keep a 1.8 liter thermos of hot water on hand and fill up my cup everytime I am in the kitchen.

So far, I haven't had any craving even with all the leftover Halloween candy and chips! I got rid of them pretty quick by taking them to my students.

The dieter is to do 17 minutes of various workouts everyday. I do a 45-minute workout with a trainer twice a week and one hour of tai-chi twice a week with a group. We'll see how effective this "diet" is.

This morning, I weighed - lost 4 lbs - water weight. But, I do feel less bloated.

[Darienne]

Following this thread with interest...

One trick a friend showed me was using cabbage: shredded for spaghetti and in leaves for lasagna. Believe it or not, it worked quite well.

Good luck with your diet, Dejah. I'll look up your link.

ps. Thanks for the tip about drinking hot water. I hate drinking cold water, but hot or warm water I could manage! Never thought of that.

Edited November 9, 2011 by Darienne (log)

[robirdstx]

Following this thread with interest...

One trick a friend showed me was using cabbage: shredded for spaghetti and in leaves for lasagna. Believe it or not, it worked quite well.

I'm also following this conversation with interest. I've recently gone on a lower carb (and lower fat) eating plan; trying to lower my cholestrol and triglycerides.

Thinly sliced zucchini also works well in lasagna.

[sparrowgrass]

Thanks for the congrats, from way back in October--don't know how I missed 'em.

Got my numbers from the doc the other day--down 60 pounds, blood sugar 5.5 (in normal range) and my cholesterol, despite many slices of bacon, burgers and over-easies, was (drum roll) 155. I think it was 225 or so the last time I had it checked.

I don't care for low carb baked goods, at least not any that I have purchased or made--I have tried a couple of recipes. I don't mind artificial sweetener, but those weird flour substitutes are not worth eating.

I am concentrating on eating GOOD food--not eating anything just because it is there, or because someone else thinks I can have just one donut. I did have a piece of my Mom's 80th birthday cake this spring--because I knew it was good cake. If it had been the standard Walmart or box mix--I would have passed. I enjoyed every last crumb of the little piece I had--I think there was some moaning involved.

[robirdstx]

...(and lower fat) eating plan; trying to lower my cholestrol and triglycerides...

Correction: Should have said less fat, as in fewer calories. Still using full fat foods.

[Viktoria]

I've made mashed cauliflower before. I love it. I tried to make a rice-like cauliflower, but it didn't turn out well.

I've never used cabbage before in things that typically require pasta. Does it really work? I have made spaghetti squash before, and served it with pasta sauce. It's good, but not the same. It's also good with salt, pepper, and parmesan. I've also thought about making it like carbonara, but haven't yet.

[Dejah]

Viktoria: When you made cauliflower rice, did you grate it? I do mine in a corningware casserole dish, add salt, pepper, cover, and microwave for 5 minutes, stir, then microwave for another 3 minutes or so. You don't add any liquid, and it "fluffs" up like rice.

I also do the cauliflower fries as discussed in one of the other threads. That's amazing!

I have used zuchinni strips in place of lasagna noodles. Not the same but satisfying. I've also used eggplant which is not as watery.

In the WW thread, I think, I mentioned using shirataki noodles. I'm not sure if I can use them in this 17-Day diet because they are made from a yam. But, they have no nutritional value and are very high in fibre. I use them instead of ramen, and can also stir-fry them.

Someone also mentioned Chinese and Thai as being diet-friendly. I made a big pot of Hot'n'Sour soup the other day, and it really filled the need. Funny thing about this soup, once I have a bite, then I crave it! Other Chinese soups are just as useful: watercress in chicken stock and sliced lean protein (fish, chicken), Chinese soup melons (wintermelon, moo qua). Being able to buy salt-free fat-free chicken broth by Campbells is very handy.

Purple top turnips are a good substitute for potatoes. I peel, quarter, and boil. Drain the chunks and pan-fry in non-stick panwith Montreal steak spice. I was using this when I wanted to reduce carbs. Chayote can also be used in this manner.

Tonight, we had curry chicken with lots of onion, orange pepper, blanched cauliflower, a couple of Thai peppers. Everything was stir-fried in a non-stick pan with 1 TBSP olive oil, simmered with chicken stock and thicken with 1 tsp. cornstarch in about 3 tbsp. cornstarch. We had the purple top turnips even tho' I am not supposed to have them for another cycle. I had 1/4 of one but lots of cauliflower on a bed of fresh watercress.

Have any of you tried "sprouted grain" bread? It's high in fibre. I was eating it until I started this diet. It was my usual breakfast: 2 slices toasted with 1 tbgps of unsweetened - unsalted peanut butter. It was also my bread for sandwiches. Because it is drier than flour bread, I always have a big pile of lettuce and dill pickles with it.

Before bed tonight, I will have my remaining 3 oz. of Greek yogurt with some stevia - IF I feel I need it.

Darienne: Glad the tip about hot water will be useful for you.

[Mjx]

I have a question for folks: Do you make diet versions of things, or do you prefer the original in much more managed amounts. In other words when it comes to sweets or certain favorite dishes, regardless of what diet plan you follow, do you make major substitutions or would you rather wait till you could have the real thing.

. . . .

How about you? What are your "can't do withouts", or favorite subs?

No substitutions for me, they generally really depress me. There are plenty of low fat/carb things that I appreciate, but for themselves, not as replacements for something else. My big weakness is for wheat-based things and potatoes, which I have to restrict anyway, since my body has issues with them. But when I want either of those things, I eat them (this happens less and less often, since I feel pretty run down afterwards), which keeps me from eating a whole platoon of would-be replacements, followed almost inevitably by what I was trying to not eat.

I should be up front about the fact that I've never followed a specific weight loss plan in my life, but when I want to ditch some weight (as when I recently buckled down to get rid of the roughly 30 pounds I piled on when I was ill for a couple of years), I just eat dinner, and whatever I like. Not eating during the day soon has your stomach accustomed to smaller portions, so you get built-in portion control, and I find that 'dinner only' is a strategy that I can stick to indefinitely.

I know there are arguments against this approach, but from a logistical standpoint, this works out best for me (and I do take nutritional supplements), particularly since I almost always eat dinner with others, but am on my own at other mealtimes.