Take care of yourself

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

Yeah, I snacked on baby carrots all day. Just not really at any one meal, so I didn't put them on there. Wasn't thinking. And I'd had salads the four previous days and had been kind of saladed out.

 

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

I wish I could say I was a good boy today. But after the morning workout at the gym, I came home and had a Diet Coke. For lunch, I used some leftover meatballs and hogies to make two medium sized (based on Subway) meatball sandwiches with a hefty handful of Ruffles. I tossed in about 10 baby carrots, too, but chased it with a Hershey bar and another Diet Coke. :-[

Breakfast was a Clif bar, 10 oz skim milk and a couple of bottles of water.

Bad boy. I'll try to make amends by walking for 30 minutes around the track at school tonight when I take the little girls to dance lessons.

 

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

I just had some instant mashed potatoes. Had a big craving. Gave in. So, I'll go to the gym later and work them off. Today I had a burger plain and a large cup of chili. Obviously, I have to do extra cardio to sweat the shit out.

 

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

In an attempt to follow in the inspirational footsteps of Passy and Starman, I am trying to lose a large amount of weight.

With that in mind, here is my initial plan for my diet:
Breakfast -- boiled eggs (no yolks)
Snack -- fruit and/or yogurt
Lunch -- salad (no cheese, croutons, eggs, et cetera) with grilled chicken or turkey sandwich on wheat bread or tuna or something along those lines
Snack -- vegetables
Dinner -- lean meat (grilled chicken or fish), baked potato (no butter; just salt and pepper) and vegetables or salad (no cheese, croutons, eggs, et cetera)
Drink: Mostly water, although I likely add some sugar-free lemonade or non-caffeinated, herbal-seasoning tea to mix it up once in a while (no soda, which will be the biggest challenge because I drink so much of it).

My question for the fine folks such as 21 is this: Is that a good basic plan for a daily diet? Also, I do not like salad (which, of course, is one of the reasons I am overweight, I am sure), but I will force myself to eat it. What is the best salad dressing from a low-calorie, low-fat standpoint? And is it better to go with the fat-free variety or is it simply a matter of replacing bad (fat) with bad (sugar or some other negative replacement)?

Also, if anyone (particularly people such as Small Potatoes, Passy and Starman) can share some tasty but low-fat, low-calorie recipes for lunch and dinner, I would appreciate it. Ditto with any other advice and suggestions (although I spent Sunday reading every page in this thread and it might be a repeat).

As far as exercise, is the combination of walking on a treadmill or around a track and riding a stationary bike a good way to start without worrying about overdoing it (i.e. heart attack or injury)?

Last but not least, please keep me in your prayers as I embark upon this challenge (and lifestyle change) for myself, my wife and my baby boy. Like the Bible says, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." Lord knows, I will need a lot of His strength in this endeavor.

Thanks to all in advance.

 

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

WV ... start with walking. Even walking briskly for a 30-40 minutes a day will be more exercise than nothing. Your body will tell you when you can take more. But do something, and you'll start to feel better, and your body will start to crave exercise ...

 

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

wv--You're going to do great...that's a solid plan.

But since you asked:

--I'd get some carbs with those egg whites...maybe some fruit or whole wheat toast. That's your fuel for the day, so give yourself a long time to burn it. Carbs early, decreasing as the day goes on....protein increases as the day goes on (actually protein all day, but you need the carbs early). Think of an X...carbs start high and go low, protein starts low and goes high.

--I don't love the baked potato on the menu, even plain, it just doesn't do anything for you...in fact, it digests as pure sugar. This is what our mothers taught us, there's supposed to be a starch at dinner, like rice or potatoes. It makes no sense, nutritionally, since you'll never burn it as fuel before bedtime, so it just eventually turns to fat. No one needs potatoes or rice at dinner.

--If you need to eat something at night after dinner (I always do), stay away from ice cream or other high fat/sugar snacks. Fruit is okay, cottage cheese is great if you like it (I do not). Leftover pizza is a bad idea. Drink water or decaf tea.

Good luck--let us know how it goes, and ask for help if you need it.

 

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

Sorry, missed the salad question:

There's nothing great about 'salad' per se, although spinach is good for you, moreso than plain old iceberg lettuce. You can skip the lettuce completely and throw together a bunch of stuff you like--chopped chicken breast, tomatoes, cucumber, a small sprinkle of parmesan and pepper, whatever.

Whatever you do, though, don't wreck it with salad dressing! Like wearing a cardboard belt with your tux! Less is more--try a squeeze of fresh lemon, or a small splash of red wine vinegar. Regular dressings are loaded with fat, and the 'fat free' stuff is loaded with sugar.

 

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

That cracked me up.

 

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

Oh, terrific...I'm giving away 20 years of stolen secrets, and Boom still gets the laughs...

 

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

Actually potatoes, some studies have shown the aspartame in diet drinks can lead to weight gain.
According to Dr. James Bowen, "the reason aspartame so strikingly stimulates the appetite is it provides over half of its content in a form of a phenylalanine isolate.

The amino acid phenylalanine outcompetes all the other at enzyme sites in the body. This suppresses the formation of dopamine from tyrosine and the formation of serotonin from tryptophan. The serotonin is the neurotransmitter that reports carbohydrate metabolism. When your serotonin levels are not allowed to raise as they normally do when you eat carbohydrates you crave more and more food. The dopamine is the neurotransmitter that lets you feel satisfied, so when you use aspartame you have unsatisfiable cravings. The aspartame also poisons your metabolism so you cannot burn calories."

 

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

Flash, I've lost 70 pounds while drinking it, but you're probably right that I could do better without it. Now that I'm on a plateau, maybe I should look into cutting back.
I just got a kick out of a guy who was smoking not even a minute before he rang me up telling me something was bad for me.

 

Re: Take care of yourself (LiveSTRONG)

Water, water, water ...