Ok, so talk to me, please, food guru's - calorie counting etc.

[Quail_Antwerp]

Ok so I haven't posted anything about what I've been eating for awhile - so I have to say I fell off the wagon. It's much easier falling off than it is getting on.

And chocolate is soooooooo tempting.

Going cold turkey off the sweets and breads was torture. I had to compromise there. So I'm allowing 1 day a week where I can a sweet - be it a small serving of ice cream (I bought Breyers all natural vanilla ice cream - the only ingredients are milk, cream, sugar, natural vanilla flavor, and natural tara gum, and I can read it all!) and 1 day a week allowing myself some bread...I guess. Except I had 2 servings of bread this week.

For breakfast this morning I had baby carrots, coffee, and 1/2 pint of water.

I'm having my lunch right now. It's 1 green bell pepper, sliced, 1 red bell pepper, sliced, 4 chunks of broccoli, a slice of provolone cheese, 1 stick of celery (and I remember now why I don't eat celery), a slice of tomato, and a bit of roast beef. My drink is a pint of water.

It's delicious!

I am not sure what dinner is going to be yet. Yesterday's dinner was a porterhouse steak and a salad - DH and kids have potato salad, too, but I didn't touch that. I didn't feel hungry after dinner, either, and I also drank 1/2 pint of water after dinner. But, we'll be at Becca's this afternoon to do the garden, and if I know her mom she'll want to fix something. I may take along some healthy eating choices to make for dinner - and kick Becca's mom out of her own kitchen Just for dinner, though!

Now I'm feeling impatient and wondering when my pants will get lose.

 

[Wifezilla]

For breakfast this morning I had baby carrots, coffee, and 1/2 pint of water.

Umm...you need fat in the morning. Eating fats sets you up to burn fat. Maybe put some heavy cream in your coffee?

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

Fat in the morning - OK!
I put half n half in my coffee or whole milk. Does that help at all?
We normally have eggs and bacon in the morning - it just didn't happen today.

 

[freemotion]

Based on what you ate in one day....you need to give us more info as to amounts, though, what is "a bit of roast beef?".....I'd say you are doing REALLY well with the veggie amounts but need much more fat and protein. As in eggs, cheese, whole dairy products, meat with the fat, chicken with the skin, fish cooked with fat such as butter or sour cream, etc.

If you eat this way, a small serving of ice cream once a week will not seriously impact your efforts. To make it even better, have it after a high-fiber meal (veggies) and make it an early snack, not before bed.

Make sure it is full fat ice cream, if not, top it with homemade whipped cream!

 

[freemotion]

Oh, and half-and-half is usually full of garbage. Use heavy cream or whole milk. Or mix them for your own half-and-half! When you cut out the soda, cookies, etc, you now have money in the budget for such things. Be sure to indulge in the good stuff.

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

It was sliced roast beef for sandwiches and I had 5 thin slices.

I couldn't find real cream at our local grocery, which is why I got the half and half - but they said their milk truck is coming in today and they said they will get 1 carton of real cream for me. I told them not heavy whipping cream - cream.

I've been trying to eat one apple a day for my fruit serving - but i have to go pick up more apples today.

My question is, how do I know if I am eating enough or too much? I don't want to starve myself.

p.s. we will not discuss what I ate for dinner. It was carby.

Also, all whole dairy products I've looked at are pasturiezed - I'm guessing no way to avoid this completely until I can milk my goats? So when you're buying whole dairy products from the store, what to you shop for?

And, what about cottage cheese? I love the stuff! as long as I'm not buying Low Fat or Ultra - Pasturiezed will it be OK?

I've cut out the soda - and I don't know when I had a cookie last (probably at Becca's house. Becca and I discussed how her mom thinks a meal is pasta, potatoes, and bread and she always feels we need dessert. )

Becca and I are going shopping together this morning, and I'm trying to plan my shopping for what I want my meals to be.

Oh and, instead of a baked sweet potato - what about baked squash? That I could eat and like....

 

[Wifezilla]

they said their milk truck is coming in today and they said they will get 1 carton of real cream for me. I told them not heavy whipping cream - cream.

Why not? That's what I use. It's fantastic. Heavy cream that is NOT ultra-pasteurized and non-homogenized is not only tasty but GOOD FOR YOU!!!

Natural animal fat is what your body evolved (or was designed - take your pick ) to utilize.

The unhealthy fats are artificial, hydrogenated, OR highly processed PLANT BASED FATS.

 

[Dace]

Hey Aly! Glad to see you are still working on your healthier diet

I can be a big transition so don't be hard on your self for occasionally not choosing the 'perfect' foods.....all in all you are headed in a great direction!

As for how much to eat...don't go hungry girl. You have to figure out what works for you, but in general more protein and good fats will help carry you thru from one meal to another. I usually don't need snacks but some days I do so I try to eat a handful of almonds, or a hard boiled egg, a piece of cheese, cukes & carrots etc. Let your body be your guide.

On the cottage cheese, just keep it in moderation, a serving a day or every other day and see how you do. Some people can handle more dairy than other where weight loss in concerned.

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

Wife - I wasn't sure if Heavy Whipping Cream and cream were the same, or if there's stuff in the heavy whipping cream that shouldn't be in my body.

It's confusing trying to learn all these different good and bad things for your body.

I did get real cream today. Becca and I had fun shopping together - and teased each other a bit while trying to at the same time keep each other in check. I saved her from the evil chocolate peanut butter fudge cupcakes they were selling at the farmer's market, and she in turn saved me from the deadly gourmet blueberry muffins in the bakery section at the grocery store

We were doing fairly well with our shopping, reading ingredients before putting it in our cart, and avoiding things that said Fat free or Diet - until we got to her mom's list. We won't discuss her mom's list.

I bought a head of cauliflower to cook up and mash like one would do mashed potatoes. Becca said it's really good if you add cream and butter and a bit of cream cheese. I got the regular cream cheese, not the spreadable. Original brick cream cheese has less ingredients in it.

A few things we looked at has mono and glycerides (sp?) listed as being in the ingredients. Wasn't sure if this was good or bad, so I avoided things that had it in it until I could look it up.

 

[freemotion]

Anything that I can think of on an ingredient list that has a chemical name is not good for you. Look for items with a simple list of simple ingredients that you recognize and could grow at home if you were in the right zone or had the right animals.

If you can't get raw dairy products from the farmer, don't worry too much about the pasteurized stuff for now. You will have your own in a year or so. Just limit the dairy more if it is pasteurized and understand that you will get NO usable calcium from it. You need to make traditional bone broths or take supplements to get enough calcium for now. Think of dairy more as more of a condiment or side serving for now, and you can use it as a main dish when you have your own....raw, whole milk and cheese and yogurt.

One of the problems with pasteurized milk is that it is so altered molecularly that it is toxic. So use in moderation. I still buy nice Cabot cheddar that I cannot make, so understand that I am saying....moderation is the key, and don't sweat it if you can't get it. Rejoice and enjoy it if and when you can!