Substitutes: Yes You Can (part 1)

Before I started this journey, my belief was that I could have everything I wanted in moderation. That’s what I had always read. As I said in earlier articles, I thought I was eating healthy, however I continued gaining weight and not losing or maintaining. When I started logging in my food and seeing everything I was eating, I realized that I needed to make major changes to the types of foods I was putting in my mouth. I needed to start using substitutes in order to stay on track and make healthier choices. Once again, it was about getting back to basics; good proteins, veggies, and carbs. I am a very routine person which makes things easier to stay on course. The hard part is making the initial change.

For breakfast I usually have oatmeal. Buy the Quick Oats in the cannister, not the flavored prepackaged type which is loaded with sugar. I use Almond Milk instead of water to get the morning dose of  calcium, as well as the addtional flavor.  There are many ways to enhance plain oatmeal. Try cinnamon, real sugar, or honey, any fruit, and nuts if you prefer.  My standard oatmeal is Almond Milk, cinnamon, Stevia in the Raw, and fresh blueberries. I alternate days with whole wheat cinnamon swirl bread and peanut butter, cinnamon, fresh blueberries, and a glass of Almond Milk. The key here is one piece of bread, and one tbsp of peanut butter (reduced fat, or natural). The serving size for peanut butter is 2 tbsp., but that has 16 grams of fat. As with most nuts and nut products, the fat content is high for one serving size. The key is; cut it in half.,  You still get the benefits but half the fat. I always have an 8 oz glass of low sodium V8 juice with breakfast as well. It’s a great way to get a couple of servings of veggies in addition to the blueberries.  I always start the day with coffee; one cup at home, and one cup at work. “They” say it gets your mind going and has some good benefits. For me, it is a necessity. The darker, and bolder, the better.

I usually bring the same snacks to work everyday. Routine, routine, routine. I eat every couple of hours, as well as drinking water in between; after coffee, of course. My morning snack is a small apple. I like gala apples, but whatever you prefer. I have an apple wedger (Pampered Chef), which gives you more peices to eat, and cuts down on the juicy mess. I eat this about one hour before lunch, and it keeps me from getting to hungry before lunch time, in addition to helping me curb my appetite during lunch.  My afternoon snack is plain greek yogurt (i prefer Chobani), with a couple of handfuls of blueberries mixed in. I started buying the individual cups but it was hard to find the plain in this size so I have switched to the large containers. It’s better economically, and a great item to keep in the refrigerator as a substitute for sour cream. There is no fat,  loads of protein, and calcium, and it is very filling. I usually eat this about 3 hours after lunch so I don’t have to rush home to eat dinner because I am starving from not eating since lunch. I have gotten so used to this routine that I can’t imagine how or why I didn’t have afternoon snacks before. I would always have something before going to play racquetball, but maybe not if I was not going to play.

Healthy eating means eating healthy food, not avoiding food all together.  Realize that not having enough food in your body will cause you to increase stomach acid which can lead to alot of pain and discomfort, as well as potential stomach problems. Please read on to “Substitutes: Yes You Can (part 2)”

Substitutes: Yes You Can (part 3)

I usually eat dinner at home during the week. I keep chicken, shrimp, and meats in the freezer as I buy them in bulk. I usually buy fresh seafood when I am really in the mood for something specific, and I cook it that night. I like fresh veggies but they go bad fast so I only buy what I will use for about a week at a time. I always have a bag of broccoli florets, baby spinach, grape tomatoes, and onions in the fridge. During the winter I like soups and casseroles; comfort food. I like to make my own but I do buy cans to have on hand when I don’t have time to cook or I am just getting home from the gym and want something fast and easy. Some of the soups I buy are Amy’s organic soups; lowfat split pea, black bean vegetable, black bean chili, vegetable barley. They are very healthy and flavorful but be careful of the fat content in some of them. My son is a vegetarian and he loves her chili made with vegetable protein. The consistency is just like meat but it’s a little high in fat. I also buy the Campbells Healthy Request soups; Chicken and Sausage Gumbo, and Italian Wedding Soup. These are my favorites but there are many choices. You have to buy what you like or you will not eat it. I also love little smokie sausages. When I was a kid we would make sausage sandwiches all the time. I was so excited when I found Hillshire Farms turkey smokies. They are great and the fat content is so much less than the pork or beef smokies. Recently I found chicken smokies and they are even better, with the same fat content. Substitutes, substitutes, substitutes. I add the smokies to the split pea soup and it is great, as well as adding a boost of protein. Grab a handful of reduced fat wheat thins or a peice of wheat or pumpernickel bread and you have a quick balanced meal.  I also buy the Indian vegetable packages such as Spinach Channah, or Madras Lentils. These are great to add to your meal as a side dish or a topper for fish, chicken or meat. I forgot to mention that I do go to Nawab, the Indian restaurant, for lunch about once a month. The food is fresh, with lots of veggies, good spices and sauces, meats and chicken. I don’t go more often than that because it is a buffet and I always tend to eat to much and want to take a nap by the time I get back to work. Everything in moderation.

I do like to go out on the weekends since I have eaten home all week.  I can find just about anything I want at any resaurant and fit it into my food plan. Once again I try to only order what I will eat, unless I am going straight home and I can take the leftovers, or I can split the dish.  I order what I like, keeping in mind the basic food groups; protein, carbs, veggies, as well as lowfat items. I do let myself go sometimes if there is something I really want that I would not otherwise eat on a regular basis. About every 6 to 8 weeks I get a pedicure in the evening, and next door to the nail place is an Uncle Al’s Hot Dogs. It’s usually around 7:30pm when I’m  done with my pedicure, and I am hungry, so I go next door for my usual indulgence; one hotdog with hot mustard, chili, and onions, and an order of sweet potato fries with an unsweet tea. It is just enough and I do not feel guilty as it is only once in a while. EVERYTHING IN MODERATION!!

You shoud always enjoy eating. I was raised to appreciate good food, and have been exposed to the worst and the best. The point is that there are good, healthy, satisfying, flavorful choices that will fit into your lifestyle.  Stick with what you like, but be willing to try new things. You never know what you might be missing!!

Living and Loving Food

To Eat Or Not To Eat

So I have decided to log my food into the activtrax online system.  Now the questions are;  what do I eat, how much, and how often.  I am continuously reading articles and books about food, and what benefits are derived from eating certain foods.  I’ve read diet books such as “The Abs Diet for Women”,  “Harnessing the Healing Power of Fruit”, “The South Beach Diet”, and various articles that I find online and in health magazines.  As I said in  “The Weight Gain Dilemma”; I thought I was eating healthy.  I was just not as disciplined as I needed to be.  I knew this needed to change. I really had to get serious and apply more of this knowledge to my everyday eating habits.  As I logged in my food everyday and noticed how much fat was in everything, I focused on eating basically no fat.  That’s pretty much what you have to do in order to fit into the 20% a day category. Let me backtrack on that.  I was set up on activtrax to eat 20% fat, 50% carbs, and 30% protein.  I have always tried to eat balanced at every meal; protein, carbs, and veggies. I read that half of your plate should be filled with vegetables.  Also you need at least 7 to 9 servings of fruits and veggies a day; maybe 9 to 13 by now.  My goal was to eat my 3 meals a day with a morning and afternoon snack.  I was careful to keep all  my food intake to one serving size of everything. That included sauces, condiments (butter, mayo, dressings, etc. ), EVERYTHING.  I would also concentrate on drinking as much water as possible to get to the 64 oz a day.  This is not the first time I have tried to lose weight, and I know how my body will react to drinking more water, and eating less at each sitting, but more times a day.  At first you feel hungry because you’re stomach is used to having more, and it has to shrink.  You also don’t feel like eating every time you should. You have to give your body time to adjust to this new way of eating and drinking. After a couple of weeks, I started feeling hungry when it was time to eat, and I was eating or drinking all the time.  I brought healthy snacks with me to work; fruit, nuts, hummus and crackers, or celery, protein bars, etc. I made sure that I ate enough protein before going to exercise.  My body was changing quickly due to the change in what I ate, when I ate, and how much I ate. The exercising everyday was really making a difference in how I felt, as well as reducing the inches around my hips, legs, and belly.  I ventured into my closet to see how my old clothes would fit.  The results were amazing.  I was only losing about 1 to 2 lbs a week, which is what I was told when I was setup, but where I really noticed a difference quickly was how trim I was looking and feeling.  This was my incentive and motivation to keep on going.  IT WAS WORKING!!!  

Please read on to the next article “Getting Over The Plateau”.

The Weight Gain Dilemma

So now that my hormones were somewhat on track it was time to get rid of this extra 30 pounds or so.  I really thought I was doing everything right; playing racquetball 2-3 times a week, and eating what I considered to be healthy. I had heard a couple of people talking at the Y about a new computerized system called Activtrax. Apparently you could log your food in and it would calculate how many calories, fat, carbs, and protein grams you ate. You could also get set up on the computer based on your goals for weightloss, and exercise. I had been searching for something to help me lose this god awful extra weight. I was getting ready to go up another size and I was not willing to let that happen. It was enough!!

I decided to take the plunge. What did I have to lose? Some weight, maybe? I got setup on Activtrax with a goal of exercising at least 30 minutes a day, and losing at least 30 pounds. My workout included all the weight machines, a few exercises on the mat with the ball, and the other exercise bars, belts, etc. I also warmed up on the treadmill and finished on the eliptical.  I decided that I would go to the gym on the nights that I was not playing racquetball. The computer spit out my workout everytime I came. It was great. I also started doing the 8 minute Ab workout every morning. I have been using this for many years off and on. I have to be really motivated. Anyway, there are about 12 different ab positions and with 20 reps each that comes to about 240 total crunches. I also do 20 leg lifts on each side, as well as some knee and lower back stretches. I know this sounds like alot but you can knock it out in 15 minutes or less. I do breath in between, so I am not doing the crunches continuously. Believe me, I am no great exerciser, so if I can do this, I know you can. I was really challenged by the logging in of the food. They have alot of choices with breakdowns of each item. I had my breakdown of 20% fat, 50% carbs, and 30% protein. It was very interesting seeing what I thought would fit into these categories and what I actually ended up with. This taught me alot about looking at the labels for these breakdowns. I also found out that it takes about 3-5 times more protein to get to 30%. In the beginning I measured everything to make sure I was only eating a serving size. Its important to do this. You think you are only eating a certain amount of butter, or mayo, or peanut butter until you start to measure. I became very aware of how much fat was in everything. I starting buying lite and lowfat dressings that I thought I would like as well as some bags of frozen fish, shrimp, and chicken breasts.  I like fresh vegetables, so I only bought what I thought I would eat for about a week at a time so as not to waste the food and have to throw it away. I hate throwing away food because it went bad. I was on my way and it felt good to start this new journey. I was very motivated and determined. Please continue to “The Weight Loss Success”.