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Nov. 13th, 2016 08:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lunabee34princessofgeeks asked me if I had made a post about what I’ve been doing to lose weight, and I realized I’d talked about it here and there but not really made a dedicated post about it. So, here it is, and I hope some of you find it useful/interesting.I should say first that all bodies are unique, and what works for one person may not work for another. In fact, some of what’s worked for me is exactly the opposite of what I’ve seen touted by some weight loss experts. This is just what’s worked for me.
I’ve lost 32 lbs since August 1, and here’s what I’ve done in the last 3.5 months to achieve that:
1. Have celiac. Going gluten free has not helped me lose weight. After all, butter and chocolate are gluten free! What having celiac has done for me is helped me become receptive to making major changes in my diet. I have resisted changing the way I eat for a long time because I don’t want to make any changes that aren’t sustainable. I don’t want to lose weight in the short term and gain it all back because I’ve been doing something I can’t maintain for life. Celiac made me think about everything I was eating. I had to eliminate so many foods (and places I can eat!). I don’t think I’d have been able to change the way I eat and stick to it without the paradigm shift of celiac. I’m already giving up bread, so I might as well take the extra step and think about portion control. I figured there would never be a better time to make a big life change.
For the first two months or so that I ate gluten free—late May to the end of July—I didn’t lose any weight at all, largely because I found gluten free alternatives for the foods I had to eliminate, thus maintaining the status quo. Now I don’t replace gluten with gluten free. For example, I used to eat the hell out of some crackers. I think I was single-handedly keeping the saltine industry alive in the South. At first I bought a bunch of gluten free crackers and kept eating them the way I would saltines; now, I don’t buy gluten free crackers or cookies or whatever to replace the item I had to give up. I used to keep pasta on hand to make whenever I felt like it, but now I only buy pasta specifically for a meal, which means we only eat pasta about once every month and a half. I buy one loaf of gluten free bread and only a eat sandwich once or twice a week, mostly because gluten free bread sucks.
So, tl;dr, I changed my way of thinking about food because I had to as a result of this disease, and I eliminated some foods from my diet and (mostly) haven’t replaced them.
2. I don’t eat out very often anymore. We are huge foodies and have always loved eating out. We would eat out three to four times a week at the local Mexican restaurant, and I would eat a basket of chips with salsa and cheese laden rice and everything else. But now I can’t eat at a single restaurant in town; none of them are gluten free. I can’t go get a pizza or burger or tacos when I’m running late and don’t want to cook. When I do eat at a restaurant (2-4 times a month), my options are really limited. What I mostly end up being able to eat at restaurants is some kind of salad and/or steak and potatoes. I know cutting down on eating out and what I’m able to eat out has helped me lose weight.
3. I started a food journal. At the beginning of August, I started writing down everything I ate and drank and how many calories was in it if I knew. If I couldn’t figure out how many calories was in the pot of stew I made, I didn’t worry about it; I just wrote down how much stew I ate. This was eye-opening. I’d always thought I ate pretty well. We don’t drink sweet tea at home. I don’t fry foods at all. We’ve always eaten lots of salads and veggies. I just didn’t realize how many calories I was consuming until I started keeping track. I didn’t realize how many calories are in some of the things I would frequently eat, like cheese. I didn’t realize how big my portions were. I wasn’t paying attention to things like eating off Fiona’s plate when she’s done or having a snack along with her at her dinner time. I was shocked when I realized how many calories I was consuming.
I set a calorie goal—1500 a day or close to it—and tried to achieve that. This means at first, I ate a lot of cans of soup and frozen dinners so I could better control the number of calories I was consuming. I would recommend this as a way to start until you get a better handle on how many calories are in the food you want to eat.
I kept the journal for about 6-7 weeks. Frankly, it was tedious and time-consuming to keep, and once I got a clear sense of how many calories are in the foods I like to eat and how much I’m eating of them, I didn’t feel a need to continue it. However, some research suggests that the people who are most successful at losing and keeping off weight keep this kind of journal forever, so IDK. I might go back to it at some point.
4. I don’t drink my calories. I quit drinking alcohol on August 1. I will probably start drinking again once I reach my goal weight, but I might not. I’m enjoying how much fatter my wallet is. I drink water all day long plus one or two cups of herbal tea. I do put sugar in the herbal tea but not as much as I once would have.
5. I don’t eat breakfast. I don’t like breakfast, and I never have. When I first started this “diet,” I did have a SlimFast shake for breakfast because I was worried I’d be hungry after cutting calories. These shakes have 20 grams of protein and are only 180 calories. I would highly recommend them for an occasional meal replacement. Once I realized that I wasn’t hungry, I quit drinking the shakes. So, now I don’t eat breakfast. I eat a lighter lunch and a heavier dinner. I usually have one or two snacks at night but no snacks during the day (except for my two prunes I eat each afternoon LOL).
6. When I first started counting calories, I stopped eating snacks at night entirely for several weeks. This was really useful to me because it showed me that all my nighttime snacking is about something else other than hunger. It’s because I’m bored or because it’s a habit to eat while watching TV or playing on the computer, not because I’m truly hungry. I eat snacks now because I want to eat them and like them, not because I think I’m hungry. It’s a conscious choice, a treat I deliberately give myself.
7. I make sure I eat enough protein. Protein is the key to satiating hunger for me. If I eat enough protein, I don’t get hungry before my next meal.
8. I’ve been focused on portion control and serving size. I fill my plate one time, and then I’m done. No seconds or thirds like I used to eat, and I don’t take a gargantuan portion. I look at the serving size of the food and then I eat that. I look at the bag of chips and count out the fifteen that make the serving size, and then I’m done. I break off four squares of chocolate or whatever the serving size is (or at least I did before I had to give up chocolate for the IC). This also means that I don’t ever eat out of the bag. I put the amount of chips or cereal or whatever in a bowl or on a plate.
9. Even though it is more expensive, I buy single serving options whenever I can. It is so much more psychologically satisfying to eat a whole little bag of chips than count out fifteen from the big bag. It also helps me not cheat. Almost all the snacks I eat now are in single serving bags.
10. I exercise. At first my goal was just to exercise as often as possible. As I started to get back into shape, I set a goal of burning 400 calories per exercise session and trying to go every day. I have since upped that to burning 450 calories per exercise session, and I am at the gym at least 5 days a week, usually 6. I decided to measure my exercise by calories expended rather than time because I knew if I decided I had to exercise every day for forty minutes, I ran the risk of just half-assing it for that forty minutes. If I set myself a calorie goal, I knew I’d work as hard as possible trying to reach that goal as quickly as possible so I can leave. Walking is just not intense enough for me. I have to really intensely exercise to get any weight loss benefits.
At some point, my weight loss will slow down and plateau. At that point, I will up my calories expended to 500 and start weight training in a regular and serious way instead of the desultory way I’ve been approaching it. But that’s it. I’m not willing to move more than that or to eat less than I currently am, and when the weight loss stops, I’m done and just focused on maintaining.
11. Stuff I’ve been eating a lot of:
Salads with tons of veggies and/or fruit, protein like chicken or prosciutto, minimal dressing
Kroger carries frozen chicken strips in a bag that you can just microwave and put on top of a salad
Cereal and granola
Yogurt, especially Noosa brand
Ice cream, especially Halo Top, Luigi’s Italian Ice, and Outshine fruit popsicles
Salami, prosciutto, deli meat
Popcorn! Lots and lots of popcorn. My number one snack at this point
I know this sounds complicated and involved, and that first month and a half was a learning curve in which I thought about eating more than I wanted to. But now, I barely give any of this any thought at all. I’m not obsessing about what I eat. I’m not hungry (to begin with I was hungry sometimes as I downsized my portions or if I misjudged how much I needed to eat, but that only lasted a couple weeks). I don’t feel deprived at all. I’m eating well and enjoying my food. I have struggled my entire adult life to get to where I am now in terms of my relationship to food, and I’m grateful that I’ve been able to make these radical changes.
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Date: 2016-11-14 03:27 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-11-14 08:43 pm (UTC)I really think it's the main factor in my weight loss. I just wasn't aware of how many calories I was eating in the portions I would choose, especially when I'd get more than one helping of something.
Now, I pick things that I can eat a lot of without worrying about it. I can eat as much salad as I want (as long as I don't go overboard with dressing) or as much fruit or veggies, but I won't just heap my plate with rice like I did before or eat two helpings of stew.
And the way stuff is packaged is so misleading. I mean, two or three servings in a can of soup? Most people are eating the whole damn can, so put that as the serving size!
no subject
Date: 2016-11-14 03:46 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-11-14 08:46 pm (UTC)That's one of the things that most weight loss experts suggest--eating breakfast. I think that's one of those things that just works for me and isn't universally applicable. Same with the just eating two meals and not really snacking throughout the day; most of the experts suggest three smaller meals and two snacks.
Those muffins sound awesome. Yay for good breakfast. One of the reasons I've never been into breakfast beyond just not being hungry in the morning is that good breakfast generally requires some preparation, and I can barely make myself get up early enough to look presentable. LOL
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Date: 2016-11-14 05:52 am (UTC)It sounds like you cut out almost all carbs (gluten stuff) and replaced it with a lot of protein. Congratulations on doing such a major lifestyle change. I lost a bunch of weight on the Pancreatitis Diet but then haven't stuck to it and my body's unhappy as a result. I need to get back to it. I agree food diaries are really important -- tracking how much I drank, for example, really helped me quit.
ETA Also if it amuses you, my stomach has been so upset lately I got T to get some of that yoghurt and ice cream and those ice cream bars from the store. My sleep schedule is so fucked regular home-cooked meals are a problem, but the yoghurt just now was very nice.
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Date: 2016-11-14 08:51 pm (UTC)I think your assessment is right. The only big carbs I'm still eating consistently are potatoes and rice although much less frequently than I did before. No food is forbidden (except gluten and now the few things I've eliminated for IC), so sometimes I will eat a gluten free cookie or make a sandwich or even eat crackers! with my hummus; I just don't keep that stuff in stock and graze on it all the time like I used to. I would literally sit in my chair and watch TV and drink wine and eat cheese from about 9 until midnight. *headdesk*
I feel so much better re: the IC; I'm hoping when I get a referral that the doc thinks something else is wrong or thinks I can add back chocolate, citrus and tomatoes. I miss that stuff!
Is the pancreatitis diet gluten free?
no subject
Date: 2016-11-15 11:05 am (UTC)I would literally sit in my chair and watch TV and drink wine and eat cheese from about 9 until midnight. *headdesk*
LOL THAT SOUNDS FAMILIAR only I think I also included chips and other snacks. //facepalm
Is the pancreatitis diet gluten free?
I don't think it's deliberately so -- I just can't eat commercially made bread, cookies, crackers, blahblah. Whole wheat bread, like from a small bakery, and steel cut oats are okay, in small quantities. Olive oil is OK, also in small quantities. Butter, canola oil, safflower oil, cocoanut oil, &c &c, are all no good. I shouldn't really eat cheese. That sort of thing. I think it's much less restrictive than the celiac diet. Altho a lot of 'irritants' are out -- spicy food, coffee (HAHAHA), oranges, tomatoes, stuff like that.
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Date: 2016-11-16 08:29 pm (UTC)I am ready for Star Trek medicine, my friend. Give me a pill and fix my innards!
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Date: 2016-11-16 09:07 pm (UTC)I would be SO happy with food-as-pill right now. Trying to get back into cooking healthy stuff, and with my sleep schedule fucked enough I'm waking up at 10 PM....urgh.
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Date: 2016-11-17 08:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-11-15 01:08 am (UTC)I have gained 20 (20!) pounds since I stopped nursing and I'm really unhappy with it. It makes me sluggish of course, carrying around the extra weight, and i want my cute clothes back! I'm more or less just counting calories, eating a salad every day, and an apple everyday, and lots of water. I drink too many calories and am trying to cut back on alcohol. Thank you for the thoughts and inspiration.
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Date: 2016-11-16 08:25 pm (UTC)The Slimfast Advanced are the ones I get. IMHO, the vanilla is not all that great but the strawberry and chocolate taste fine to me. And I always drank them room temperature, so I bet the flavor would be drastically improved by being cold.
Oh man, going from nursing and burning all those calories by just existing to a slowed metabolism sucks so hard. I gained weight after I stopped nursing both girls.
*hugs*
I hope you can find what works for you.