Monthly Archives: March 2013

Discipline is Learned, Not Eaten

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At the end of the week of 4 days (usually only 3) of a restricted diet, and one all protein day, I lost 5.5 pounds. I am back to normal carb controlled eating. I will work hard to restrict myself to closer to 50g of carbs a day and try not to go to the upper level of 100g a day because I still want to lose 3 pounds in order to be closer to my all-time weight goal. It is always work. You can’t just give up. If I can lose weight, anyone can. I lose very slowly and my body LOVES holding onto the weight with my sluggish thyroid.

At the end of the day, you have to work on your motivation. It is KEY in weight control.

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It is Easter and I am not going to indulge in traditional Easter candy. I have no idea who came up with the idea as candy being attached to high holy holidays. “It is the day Jesus was born–have some chocolate.” “It is the day he has risen, have some chocolate.” And then, “it is your birthday, so have some cake.” We should focus more on spending time on things that we can do physically. “It is a holiday, let’s meet up with family or good friends and go for a walk and talk.” That is so much better for everyone involved.

Do something fun. Change the way you do things. Don’t teach children that when it is a holiday, they have to get a basket of candy or chocolate. They can color eggs and have fun, but come on everyone. Let’s change the way we do things in order to teach ourselves and our children better HABITS.

There is a lady in my Pilates class who discusses holiday foods like they are part of her holiday orgasm, but she also is very heavy and used to be even heavier–plus her husband suffers from diabetes. How has candy and chocolate associations to holidays helped out her life? Everyone who I know who is into all of this candy, has someone larger or ill in their home. So, think about it. What is wrong with special Easter omelets and turkey sausage with some delicious coffee?

If you want to look good and feel good, and teach your family to do the same….take a chance and change the way you do things. Change traditions. Not all are good. Teach motivation and discipline. I often get told that I have amazing discipline. You just have to teach yourself and coming from a disciplined father, I am sure a lot rubbed off on me. Do the same for your family.

PLATEAU DIET, DAY 3

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For those of you following up with my being stuck and couldn’t move my weight at all, after gaining a couple of pounds from steroid use….here is the update.

Day one, lost 2 pounds.

Day two:  lost 1.5 pounds.

I am on Day 3 now and the last day.  I wrote about my diet foods a couple of blogs earlier if you want to know what I did.  Just scroll back through a few days.

Tomorrow is ALL protein day, no fruits, no salads, no veggies.  Then, I can go back to normal.  Then, my metabolism had a GOOD SHAKING and I am ready to rock and roll again.  YAY!

Will report tomorrow how I am doing.

🙂

Even Snickers is on a DIET!

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I think taking Prednisone when I was having a bad skin allergy, really messed my system up.  Two hours of exercise a day and following a low carb diet–not gaining, but not losing weight.  I am so frustrated.  So….

Plateau diet for today.

Egg and grapefruit for breakfast.

Snack-Liquid protein drink 3 hours later.

Lunch–salad with ahi.

Snack- 3 hours later–liquid protein again and grapefruit.

Dinner–repeat lunch.

Snack-3 hours later-liquid protein again and grapefruit.

oh, my saving grace–LOTS of coffee.

Pray and cross fingers that the scale moves tomorrow!

 

 

Oh, and I heard that Snickers and other snack bars (NOT PROTEIN BARS) are slmming down.  Read the story here.

http://www.everydayhealth.com/diabetes/0216/snickers-slims-down.aspx?xid=nl_EverydayHealthManagingDiabetes_20130326

 

I Made The Low Carb Lasagna and it Was Delish

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I wrote a couple of days ago about a recipe for low carb zucchini-based lasagna (instead of high carb noodles). So, I made it and had it for dinner. My husband a d I thoroughly enjoyed it. I definitely recommend it because low carb should not have to be boring. It was Italian, delicious and had vegetables!

I recommend that you bake it high up near the heat to get the cheese crispy and to bake it for an hour. The recipe says half an hour, and that is just not enough cooking time. I purchased the ingredients at Trader Joes and I bought a mandolin slicer (my first use of one, ever) at Target. I have pictures from start to finish. I hope you try it. It took me about 30 to 45 minutes, but it could go faster each time I do it.

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Skinny Italiany

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Every now and then, I miss pasta.  So, I have been working hard to get back down a few pounds to my goal weight.  Today is day two of two hours of exercise (Pilates and Elliptical).  I should get to goal soon enough, so I ordered some low-carb lasagna noodles.  I am going to attempt to make a low-carb lasagna with these noodles.    I ordered them from FiberGourmet.com.  2 ounces of the noodles is 42g of carbs, but the fiber is 18g, making the net total to be 24g of carbs.

However, in the meantime, my caulflower-based pizza was so delish (haven’t done the delish zuccini-based one yet), I am going to attempt to make a low-carb zuccini (replacement of pasta) lasagna this week, since I am taking some time off to do things for the holiday week.

Here is the recipe that I found.  If anyone does it first, let me know how it came out.

This low-carb lasagna uses zucchini “noodles” instead of lasagna noodles. The trick to making this work is to take some of the water out of the zucchini first by salting the “noodles”. Then they firm up and are more noodle-like, instead of mushy. This recipe can be made with or without meat.

The picture is what I am HOPING for!

lasagna

Ingredients:

  • 1¼ – 1½ pounds of zucchini
  • salt – enough to lightly salt the zucchini – between ¼ and ½ teaspoon
  • 1 lb. ground beef (can be made without the meat)
  • 1 lb. ricotta cheese – whole milk preferred
  • 2 eggs
  • ½ cup chopped fresh basil or 1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley
  • 2 cups jarred pasta sauce (any variety with no added sugars)
  • 8 oz mozzarella cheese, shredded
  • 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded (not dried/powdered)

Preparation:

1. Slice the zucchini into strips, length-wise. The strips should be about 1/8 inch thick. I find the best way to do this is with a mandoline. See a vegetable being sliced with a mandoline and find out more about them. Discard any pieces that are mostly peel.2. Put the zucchini strips into a colander and sprinkle the salt on them. Toss to coat. Put the colander over a bowl to catch the juice. After 10-15 minutes, toss the strips again so that the brine will more-or-less evenly coat the strips. Drain for at least an hour.

3. While the zucchini is dripping, cook the meat. Then, combine the ricotta, eggs, and basil or parsley.

4. Spread the zucchini strips on paper toweling or a cotton tea towel to take away most of the surface liquid.

DIRECTIONS:

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.

1. Put ½ cup of the pasta sauce into the bottom of a 9 X 13 pan, and combine the meat with the rest of the sauce.

2. Begin layering by covering the sauce with a layer of zucchini. Then cover the zucchini with about one third of the ricotta mixture, one third of the sauce, and one third of the mozzarella cheese. Repeat, only arrange the zucchini strips in the other direction, e.g. if in the first layer the strips are lined up along the length of the pan, for the next layer line them up across the width of the pan. Alternate again for the third layer. After the third layer, finish with the Parmesan cheese.

3. Bake until the cheese is golden brown, about 30 minutes. (Note, if you refrigerate the lasagna before baking, cover with foil and bake for 15 minutes covered, then remove the foil and cook an additional 30 minutes, or until cheese is golden brown.)

Makes 8 Servings.

Nutritional Information: Each serving has 8 grams effective carbohydrate plus 2 grams fiber (10 grams total carbohydrate), 25 grams protein, and 408 calories.

For Meatless Version: Each serving has 8 grams effective carbohydrate plus 2 grams fiber (10 grams total carbohydrate), 17 grams protein, and 242 calories.

Weight Management Success Tools

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How much do you want to lose weight?  Do you really want to do it?  Then, you have to work for it.  You can’t do anything half-assed and expect full results.  So, here are some suggestions to do it and do it well.

WEIGHT MANAGEMENT SUCCESS TOOLS:

1.  Plan and prepare your meals for each day.  You gained weight because of BAD choices or UNINFORMED choices, so this is not a diet, this is a change of LIFESTYLE.  You have to plan what you will eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner and your three protein snacks in between and after dinner.  You have to prepare to eat something with protein every 3-4 hours, four small vegetable servings a day, two small vegetable servings a day and two small salads a day.  You can even make part of your plan to go out, but have in mind what you would order that will fill your daily requirements.  If you eat pasta, rice, wheat products or starchy vegetables, you might be ruining your chances for success.

2.  Your in-between meals can be snacks that are protein-based like a protein bar, but choose snacks wisely.  Low carb choices have to be the way to go.  Even yogurt needs to be a good choice.  Dannon Greek Lite and Fit has 8 g of carbs and Chiobani has 20g of carbs.

3.  Try to eat items that have a lot of fiber.  Some protein bars have fiber.  Good vegetables have fiber.  Fiber makes you feel full and less like snacking.  You can even use a fiber supplement like Metamucil.

4.  Shop smart.  “When I go shopping, I read labels. I look at carbohydrates, and I don’t buy anything that’s over 20 carbohydrates.  I Don’t buy large quantities of food because then you don’t overeat.

5.  Find an enjoyable exercise.  I prefer Pilates, Yoga and the elliptical if I can use my IPAD while on the machine (killing two birds with one stone.)  Some people hate all of that and love Zumba or dance, or even swimming.  Some people like group social hikes.  Some people only like walking their dog.  Find something and do it.  No more excuses.  Moving your body is good for being youthful, healthy in body and mind.

6.  Portion control!  4-6 ounces of meat/protein per serving, six servings of protein a day.  And the alloted vegetables, fruit and salad (see number 1)

7.  Educate yourself.  I learned a lot by going to Lindora and reading their books.  I read online a lot about carbohydrates, glycemic loads, etc.  Read Skinny-Rules to learn.  You need to learn what to do to lose the weight.

8.  Get support.  The nurses at Lindora were excellent support for me.  Some like groups like Weight Watchers or Overeaters Anonymous.  Look into a support group, person or website.

successfultools

Non-Starchy Vegetables vs. Starchy Vegetables

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When wanting to lose weight and maintain your weight,  you need to be conscious of how many carbs you get into your diet daily.  YES, you want vegetables, but many people mistakenly think of potatoes of any kind as an innocent vegetable.  You need to get 4 small servings of vegetables a day (about half a cup of each serving), but if it is a STARCHY vegetable, not so much.  You need to cut down the serving by half if it is carrots and you have to be aware that I gave up starchy vegetables altogether.  Now, you can have them if you like, especially in maintenance, but be aware of what they do to your body.

First, the good they do.  Potatoes are a very good source of vitamin C and potassium and a good source of folate, vitamin B6, and manganese. They also contain a fairly high concentration of antioxidant phytonutrients.

The problem with potatoes is that they are high on the glycemic index.

Estimated Glycemic Load of Potatoes

  • ½ cup diced raw potato: 6
  • 1 medium potato (2½ to 3½ inches in diameter; about 7.5 oz):17
  • 1 large potato (3 to 4½ inches in diameter; about 13 oz): 29
  • ½ cup mashed potato made with milk (no butter): 8
  • ½ cup mashed potato made from dehydrated (instant) potatoes with milk: 7
  • The glycemic index gives us an idea of which foods raise our blood glucose fastest and highest.
  • BY COMPARISON:  one serving of broccoli is 8, one serving of cauliflower is 1 , and spinach is 0.

  • Why is this important?

    Many people have problems processing large increases in blood glucose.  Having blood glucose that is too high, is on the road to diabetes and the way to correct this is to cut carbs and eat foods lower in glycemic index numbers.

  • Eating pure glucose is given a ranking of 100 — all other foods are in relation to this. So a food with a glycemic index of 95 raises blood sugar almost as much as pure glucose, but a food with a glycemic index of 20 doesn’t raise blood sugar much at all. It’s important to keep in mind, though, that the glycemic index does not take portion size into account. The actual amount any food raises blood sugar has to do both with how glycemic it is, and how much of it you eat. The glycemic load attempts to combine these concepts, and some diets are using the glycemic load for this reason.


 lowcarbveggies

Vegetables LOW in carbs:

  • Sprouts, alfalfa and other small seeds (sprouted legumes have more carb)
  • Greens – lettuce, spinach, chard, etc.
  • Hearty Greens – collards, mustard greens, kale, etc.
  • Radicchio and endive count as greens
  • Herbs – parsley, cilantro, basil, rosemary, thyme, etc.
  • Bok Choy
  • Bamboo Shoots
  • Celery
  • Radishes
  • Sea Vegetables (Nori, etc)
  • Mushrooms
  • Cabbage(or sauerkraut)
  • Jicama
  • Avocado
  • Asparagus
  • Okra
  • Cucumbers (or pickles without added sugars)
  • Green Beans
  • Fennel
  • Cauliflower
  • Brocolli
  • Peppers
  • Zuchinni
  • Summer Squash

So, eat your VEGGIES and choose wisely.

P.S.  The carb content of the above mentioned items per serving:

cauliflower, brocoli  1-3g of carbs, spinach is 0-1 g of carbs and a potato is 35g for a medium potato.  See the difference?  If you want to stay skinny, you can’t have more than 50-100g of carbs a day.  35g is a lot for ONE item for the day.

Weight Plateau War

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I had to go on steroids over a month ago for allergy-related itching and it set me back.  I gained a few pounds and they started to go off, but they came back.  I am stuck.  So, now I have to set myself into a new schedule to fight back this plateau.  My body seems to like where I am at right now.  This  happened every now and then when I was first losing the weight.  It happens all of the time and you have to then change your food and exercise routine to fight the body’s weight plateau.

THIS IS WAR.

I just went shopping and bought some grapefruit.  So, here is the schedule, starting tomorrow.

1.  Breakfast.  An egg.   Half of a grapefruit.

2.  3 hours later, a protein snack.  preferably, a liquid protein snack or a LOW carb protein bar.  I will probably have a Protein Crunch.

3.  Lunch.  Salad with either turkey, chicken or fish.  No starchy veggies like carrots. Some steamed or cooked spinach and a half of a grapefruit.

4.  3 hours later, same as number 2.

5.  Dinner.  Same as lunch.

6.  Same as number 2 again, but most likely a Carbolite.

No nuts, no other snacks, no matter how low-carb.  I have to do this to lose those pounds.  I probably will be drinking a lot of liquids to combat hunger issues and I will always remember to eat every 3-4 hours.  Coffee will be my friend.

Goal:  5 pounds from today.  I will keep you informed.

weight-loss-success

Do I Do My Chores or Do I Exercise?

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I was faced with a tough decision yesterday.  I had a ton of chores to do and I am under stress to do them.  Do I give up my nightly exercise to do it?  What is one night?

Well, I decided to exercise because I had spent years neglecting myself, which is how I gained weight in the first place.  There will always be something to do, so why neglect myself any more?  I want to stay skinny and you can’t if you let yourself fall back on old bad habits.

You have to prioritize yourself.  You can have a nice car and a nice house.  You can have a nice Chanel bag….but what difference does it make if you look like crap?  Your body and the shape it is in says a lot about a person.  It says a lot about your sense of self-control, a sense of self-love and self-respect.  It is the FIRST thing that people notice about you.  They might never see your car or your house, but they will see YOU.  And how good does a nice expensive outfit look on a flabby person?  Not so good.  I can wear nice selections from Target in my skinny-toned body and they look better than some expensive outfit on a bigger, sloppy, untoned body.

There is weight prejudice out there.  People look at you and make assumptions based on your body.  I used to get asked if I was pregnant all of the time because the wheat products gave me girth and belly fat.  (I gave wheat up!)

If you spend a few extra minutes a day working on your body, it will pay off in dividends.  You will look better, feel better (mentally and physically), be healthier, your shopping for clothes will be easier and more fun, your partner might be happier with your look, you won’t get teased about your weight,  it is easier to get hired (there are studies about this), and you might get more appreciative (and sometimes jealous) looks from others.

And for you selfless types out there….remember this….on the planes, when the oxygen masks are released, what do they tell parents to do?  They say to put on the mask and breathe FIRST and THEN let your child breathe because if you pass out first, your kid has no one to help them.  If you get sick from being out of shape and large, who will be there for your family, friends or children if you fail?  You have to take care of yourself FIRST to be there for the family.  We have a friend who just died because he was so busy caring for his family and work and forgot to take care of himself.  He died at the age of 56 from a heart attack and left behind a widow and a 13-year-old girl.  I don’t want that to happen to me or anyone else.

So, I chose the exercise.  I felt better afterwards and my stress level lowered.  Exercise is great for stress.  It is a vicious cycle, you have stress and don’t feel like exercising, but if you exercised, you would feel less stress.  So, just do it and get that ball rolling.  And after you exercise, if you have time leftover, then do some chores.  You will do them feeling less guilty that you neglected yourself and you will have more energy too, believe it or not.

http://www.adaa.org/living-with-anxiety/managing-anxiety/exercise-stress-and-anxiety
Exercise relieves stress