#2 Question! HELP!!!!! Changing my eating.

B

beth6395

Cathlete
I desperately need to change how I eat. How did anyone make the adjustment? I want to cut the junk out starting the first of the year what did all of you substitute. I have been soda free for one year but I think this would be a bit more of a challenge. Can anyone recommend realistic meals that I do not need fancy smancy expensive items to prepare. I am really in need of a direction.

beth6395
 
1. By the new book, "You on a Diet". It's a book about cutting refined sugar products from your diet and has a whole bunch of tasty recipes. My goal is to go sugar free in 2007, and this book is getting me off to a good start. I tried to start the program this month, but it wasn't a good time of year to start with the holidays. My willpower wasn't strong enough, yet.

At any rate, the book is written by 2 doctors and does a great job of educating you on what goes on inside the body to cause weight gain (and weight loss) with the addition or subtraction of sugar products in our diets. I've been eating the food and find it all quite delicious and have noticed an improvement in several aspects of my life. Admittedly, the sugar withdrawal is going to hit me hard, though. I went four days sugar-free two weeks before Christmas and suffered for it - headaches, irritable, wooziness. But I know that once I get through the withdrawal next time I attack this plan, I'll feel soooooo much better!

2. I used to be on the Bill Phillips Body for Life program, but the reason why I stopped was because I found out that he uses aspartame as the sweetener in his protein mix. I will NOT put that poison in my body, so I jumped ship on Bill's program. "You on a Diet" talks a little about the hazards that aspartame and artificial sweeteners can put on the human body, as well.
 
Do you want to eat "clean" or just lose your fat weight?

I have Eat to Live and The YOU Diet. Both are very sensible and I think great programs to follow if you want to get healthier and shed those extra fat pounds.

That said, I just can't seem to follow a program that is extreme. The recipes look good but for me I have to follow a plan that allows TV dinners, shakes, or protein bars if I want to eat them for convenience. If it requires too much work, I won't do it. PERIOD. Lots of times, "too much work" for me is a 20 min. prep!}( I'd like to eat 100% how these plans prescribe but I just don't have the gusto in real life. I think this is where I end up failing a lot of the time. I don't just admit to myself that it is not convenient enough.

The YOU diet just says not to eat anything with over 6 grams of sugar per serving (I think, I have to review it). That is not too difficult, but would still prohibit some OTC protein shakes and many TV dinners....??

Sometimes I think that even if all I ate was TV dinners but still managed to lose 30lbs, I'd still end up healthier than if I kept trying the "good" diets and failing and staying the same weight. So...

I am not the one to get advice from so I'll keep reading the replies..Just wanted to put in my 0.02...:)
 
Thank you for the replies so far. I will check these books out and see which one to go for.

If I could eat better less sugary food and lose body fat I would be happy.

What protein bars do you guys eat?

beth6395
 
I second Eating for Life by Bill Phillips (Body for Life being his first book but Eating for Life has all the great recipes with beautiful pictures for all of them). You can check out www.bodyforlife.com and there are a lot of recipes there too. The concept is SOOOOOOOOOOO super easy to follow (basically 6 small meals a day each consisting of a portion of protien and a portion of healthy carbs with each meal and add a veggie with at least 2 meals a day - a portion is the size of the palm of your hand or the size of your fist depending on what the food item is). So you could mix cottage cheese and yogurt and there you have a meal. :) So easy. Oatmeal and lowfat peanut butter. An apple and string cheese. A turkey burger on a whole wheat bun and some green beans. See - simple. I pretty much eat that way all the time - except for the past couple of weeks when I decided that eating like the little piggy from Charlotte's Web seemed like a better idea for some crazy reason!

Suz

"Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened." - Anatole France

http://www.picturetrail.com/dogs2birds
 
A good protein bar without all of the corn syrup is made by Greens plus. Get the one that has 20 grams of protein versus the ones they have that only have 10. They are the first bars I have found that don't have all the corn syrup and sugar.:9

Nicole
 
I am jumping in this thread to say I'm trying to do the same thing in 2007! Best of luck to you...

The books recommended sound great. I got DH the Sonoma Diet book because he loves Mediterranean-type of eating - olive oils,etc. and it follows some of the same principles as stated above. Anyone have any opinions of this diet?

ALso, in the eating for life plan - are fruits allowed? I know on some sugar restricted diets fruits were banned or only minimally allowed. I can't do without my oranges/grapefruits/blueberries!

Heidi
 
I've been on Weight Watchers (too few calories) and I've done Bill Philips (too many supplements), but my favorite nutrition plan that works for me is Tom Venuto's Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle. You can easily download the ebook at www.burnthefat.com. He's got a no-nonsense,work hard attitude that really hit home with me.

Good luck!
Terri
 
January Self has a one month "diet" where you basically make one healthy change a day for the month of January. You log what you tried, liked, and what worked and by the end of January you are supposed to have enough changes you tried, liked, and kept to help you lose weight get healthy. It looks like a very balanced approach, not overwhelming, and a great way to make dietary changes slowly over the course of one month. I realize you want to eat better, but the daily changes are very healthy such as lowering sugar intake, eating a certaing amount of vege's etc...Anyway, it may be worth you checking it out next time you are at Barnes & Noble or haning out in the grocery store line.
Angela:7
 
Hi and congratulations on your decision to change your eating. I made the same decision a while back and requested dinner menu ideas. I thought you might be interested in Cathe's cookbook so here is a link to the post. It is posted in the middle and at the end. Maybe these recipes can help???

I'm still not perfect, but I am doing much better than before, and so is my family. Funny how if the cook changes her eating and cooking habits, everyone else has to as well:p. I just keep in mind that small changes over time are what counts. You don't have to be perfect, just better than what you were. Keep up that mentality and sooner or later you will be where you want to be.

Oh wouldn't it be wonderful if Cathe wrote a book!!:) She could share all of her secrets like her recipes, workout tips, motivational tips, and nutrition tips. I would be first in line to buy!!!!!

Anyways.......here's the link - I hope it works because I have never posted a link before. If not, do a search using "dinner menu ideas" as the key words.

http://69.0.137.118/dc/dcboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=4&topic_id=361124&mesg_id=361124&page=8

Good luck!!

Angie
 
>January Self has a one month "diet" where you basically make
>one healthy change a day for the month of January.

I think making small changes progressively is a good idea.
You've already cut out the soda (that's a great start...hope you replaced them with water!).

Each step in the right direction can be removing something bad from your diet (high fructose corn syrup, hyrogenated oils and enriched flours are three good things to start with), adding something good, or replacing the 'bad' with good.

Adding more raw veggies (especially green leafy veggies, which can be done with two nice salads a day) and fruits while reducing processed foods is another good step.

Exchanging less nutritious grains (wheat and corn, for example, which have been highly hybridized, and which are overeaten in our country) with more nutritious options (quinoa, wild rice, buckwheat) is another step.
 
>I desperately need to change how I eat. How did anyone make
>the adjustment? I want to cut the junk out starting the first
>of the year what did all of you substitute. I have been soda
>free for one year but I think this would be a bit more of a
>challenge. Can anyone recommend realistic meals that I do not
>need fancy smancy expensive items to prepare. I am really in
>need of a direction.

It would be helpful to know what your daily diet is like now, so we can look at what you're doing and recommend some not-too-hard substitutions.
 
Oh Kathryn.

I want to eat like I use to and not gain any weight but as I am getting older I went to the doctor yesterday 147 lbs at 5'8" I have never been that since I was pregnant with my twins I average between 127-135 lbs. Reality hit me hard yesterday I am 35 its time to make that change. While I do have muscle it makes me look bulky in my hip thigh and rear end.

Now I do not want to waer a size 2 all my jeans are 8's I am ok with that I just want to get rid of the inner thigh, outer thigh and rear. I know I can not spot reduce but I do need to stop lifting weights and go for the cardio and eat right I am going to start looking at these book ideas everyone has given me and look at what will be most inexpensive for groceries my hubby will not change his eating so I can not let it get more costly. Believe me If I did not have a husband I could live off salads and veggies.

I am going to look at what angie and suz had to say and then the others Thank you all to your input I want this ready for Monday I will let you all know what I change.

beth6395
 
Oh how I would LOVE to be 147 again!
And why on earth would you want to stop the weights?
To each her own and all, but I would be thrilled to be 147 and working on building up my strength and muscle tone.
BTW--I'm 5'8" and 162!
 
I am reading Eat to Live right now and plan on starting his 6 week challenge Jan 1st and hopefully continue it after that! I am really excited and I am at the point right now I know I can do it! I am 195 right now and hope in 7 - 8 months I am down to 120 :)

You gotta want it and stay disciplined!
 
I think Kathryn's advice is dead on. Stop thinking about totally changing the way you eat. Start thinking about adding more foods that are cleaner. Start off aiming for 2 fruits and 5 vegetables every day. When you can do that, up it - 3 fruits, 8 vegetables... Be creative in the ways you get them. Start looking at clean vegetarian recipes and cook one for the main course, and add a small chicken breast, piece of steak, fillet of fish, whatever as a side. But do be real - if you want a piece of chocolate, have a piece of chocolate - but try to avoid eating the entire bag. And really be concious of what is in the premade food you buy. Avoid things that have any of the following in the first 5 ingredients:

enriched wheat flour, hydrogenated oil (or hydrogenated anything), high fructose corn syrup, or sugar.

Once I started thinking of my diet as adding things that are good for me rather than taking away things that are not, it became so much easier to do. And I am totally amazed at how I feel eating this way. I can eat much more and feel full most of the time, and still shed pounds. And I'm discovering foods that I never thought would taste as wonderful as they do. I went to Macaroni Grill today and had a whole wheat pasta with marinara sauce, mushrooms, spinach and roasted red peppers that was so much tastier than many other meals I've had there. And as my body is getting the nutrients it really needs, I did not have to eat as much to be satisfied.
 
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