Liquids and your diet

Over the years, I’ve been on a large number of diets. I’ve lost a lot of weight and gained a lot of weight back. Over the past few months, I’ve been slowly losing. Naturally there have been a few bumps along the way, weeks where I gained instead of losing, but I have a plan to lose the weight and keep it off.

An important component of that plan is controlling what liquids I drink. Here are some tips that have helped me and may help you fight and win the Battle of the Bulge.

1. Drink water. Lots of water. Most diets recommend that you drink eight 8-ounce glasses of water a day. This has been shown to function as an appetite suppressant.

Most people discover this is harder to do than they think it would be. I find putting a teaspoon of lemon juice or orange juice in 24 ounces of water (a sports bottle) helps me drink enough water. Cool water is naturally easier to drink.

When you eat out, try to drink a full glass of water before your meal arrives. Drink at least one glass of water at every meal.

Besides being good for your waistline, drinking enough water has also been found to combat blood clots in the legs as well as aiding people with liver and bladder problems.

2. Avoid caffeine. Caffeine does increase your metabolic rate, which leads to increased calorie burning. However, it also increases your appetite as well as interfering with sleep patterns. Several studies have shown that people who regularly drink diet sodas have more problems with bingeing and craving than those drinking water alone. Coffee and black tea have been found to increase appetites.

3. Avoid drinking more than a cup of fruit juices a day. Supermarket orange and grape juices, while containing the important Vitamin C, are loaded with sugar. If you must drink orange juice, look for fiber added with no sugar added or juice your own. When purchasing grape juice, look for the unsweetened brands.

4. Avoid sports drinks. Most sports drinks are loaded with sugar and other quick energy boosters that increase appetite. They are formulated for athletes working at their peak. Unless you’re in a major workout, stick with water.

5. Avoid artificial sweeteners. Studies have found that artificial sweeteners increase the craving for sweets. Other hotly contested studies have linked artificial sweeteners to various cancers, Crohn’s disease, nervous disorders, bladder and liver diseases, arthritis, migraines and irritable bowel disease.

6. Switch from whole milk to 1 percent. You might have to slowly work your way down to it by mixing it with whole milk at first, but eventually you will adjust. Just by doing this, you will shave pounds off your weight over a year’s time.

I hope these tips help you like they’ve helped me.

Just when you thought it was safe ... WWIN 7

It's a quiet, small-town neighborhood. Kids playing in the yards, dads grilling outdoors, mothers yelling for them all to come in because it's 30 freaking degrees below zero. We see one lone man walking down the street but not street walking.

Ominous music starts. Dumdum ...... dumdum .....

The man, whom we'll call Tech because that's his name, saunters on, whistling until the cold wind freezes his spit.

Dumdum .... dumdum ...

He looks around. His face shows shock and fear. He begins to run, but he's slow, hampered by the fact that his fat has glued his thighs together.

DUMDUM .. DUMDUM ..

He looks back. He yells for help.

DUMDUMDUMDUMDUMDUM

But too late! The fat shark has got him!

He struggles to no avail. He disappears, one hand holding up a Twinkie as he sinks beneath the waves of rolling fat.

***

I'm up 1.8 pounds, but down from last week when I was up 3.4 pounds. Yeah, I've been swimming with the fat sharks. How you been doin'?

Also, I've lost track of the total weight lost so when you give your WWIN this time, please give your total weight lost so that I can update the sidebar. Thanks!

Got Hobby?

I've realized that this "lifestyle change" has become a hobby. Not such a bad thing, me thinks.

I just returned some cookbooks to the library. I found some good ideas for things that I've been looking for, so into a binder they'll go. I guess I can't expect this info to just pour into my brain, so making a hobby out of it is working out nicely. I've been trying new recipes and become more aware of what works and what pitfalls to avoid.

Of course, it's not perfect, but, hey, this is the longest I've stuck with something health-related.

This recipe is another from my WW meeting. It's good enough to be a comfort food. :)

CROCKPOT CHICKEN LASAGNA
8 servings, 7 points each

2 cans reduced-fat cream of chicken soup
1 10-oz. pkg. frozen chopped spinach (thawed, drained, squeezed dry)
2 cups shredded chicken breast
1 cup reduced fat sour cream
1 cup 1% milk
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1/3 cup chopped onion
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
1 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
9 uncooked lasagna noodles

Mix ingredients together except mozzarella cheese and noodles.

Spray 5-quart crock pot with Pam. Place 3 noodles in bottom. Spread with 1/3 of the mixture, sprinkle with 1/3 cup of mozzarella cheese.

Repeat 2 times.

Cook on high 1 hour, reduce heat to low and cook for 5 hours.

What I did: I only had a 16-oz pkg of spinach so I added the whole pkg. It was wonderful. I used canned chicken breast broken up with a fork. I used frozen chopped onions just because I had them. I broke the noodles to cover the layers--worked fine.

Yum!

Snowed in is not good...

Hey this will have to be short. But I was snowed in for 3 days.
It is not good, to be at home with 2 children, and husband. All
I did was cook, EAT, and wash dishes. Bread in the bread maker,
chili, and a cake. To which I consumed about 1/3 of by myself..

Of course when I got on the scales this morning. It showed what
I had done. I need to find a way to be motivated for more than
a week at a time. I am barely breaking even. I need my mouth
wired shut. Of course malts have lots of calories.

Please help me. I am in the currents and drifting toward the falls!

Fountain of...

So, I have been a reading a bit on the benefits of water. How it helps with weight loss and what it truly contributes. My Dr. had some words of wisdom, and ultimately I figured, considering my own bodies needs and difficulties, it would be good for me. But that isn't to say it is helpful to all, and some really need to weigh the pros and cons of consuming extra water.

So here are some articles I found of interest. They seem to provide a good balance of information. I thought it would be best to read on your own and take your own needs into account.

Drinking Water and Weight Loss

This is basicaly what my Dr. told me

USA Weekend

The possible dangers of...

Water Benefits?

And now if you'll excuse me, I have to visit the ladies room. Again. (Ya know, I think they should count the extra calories you burn just running to the bathroom more.)

Not what it should be

Good morning, everyone.
My weigh in this morning was not what I was expecting.
I had gained so much a couple of weeks ago that it has
taken me a while to get going again.
My loss this week is 1.2 lbs. I was hoping for more but
I will take it. My total now is 3.2 lbs.

Go Team Go..What did you do?

Found it

I finally got my new scales for home. I have been weighing with the ladies from my church. But it was getting confusing. All of you weigh on Wed.

I wanted to weigh with you and be able to keep a true number. My new scales are with the ones from church. So I will be posting my LOSS...With you all tomorrow.

I think I finally found what works for me. This will sound pretty silly to you, but it works for me. I eat oatmeal for breakfast, raisin brand for a snack 2 hours later, then oatmeal for lunch, popcorn for my after noon snack. (I have never been so regular) Then I eat pretty much within reason what ever I want for supper. I have finally caught back up to where I started last week.

I am looking forward to going past my 2 lb loss since we started.

Go team Go....You can do it...

Seven Little Secrets to Losing Weight

I first heard about these 7 "secrets" on TV and while they're not exactly big news, I thought they might be worth discussing on this blog. What I found interesting, too, is that even though I've known about these forever, I'm probably only following about one or two of them. I'm curious to know how many of them you're following. Here they are:

The 7 Secrets To Permanent Weight Loss are:

1. Abandon the thought of being on a diet and make a permanent change to the way you eat instead. (This is one that I'm trying to consciously follow. I've been on every diet from Atkins to the Zone and I'm living proof those diets only work for as long as you're on them. I can't live on them forever and as soon as I go off of them the weight comes back.)

2. Cut out so-called “Diet foods” and “Diet Drinks”. (I still find myself looking for the 100 calorie cookie or baked-instead-of-fried chips, which only fools me into eating more than I should.)

3. Incorporate all the foods you enjoy into your eating plan. (Well, this is the other one that I do, although, probably not in the appropriate amounts!)

4. Eat freely from a list of foods that help you lose weight. (Okay...now, if I just had that list...)

5. Change your attitude towards your body and food. (I love food, hate my body. I should love my body and hate food?)

6. Increase your intake of water. (No matter how hard I try, I can't seem to get even 4 cups of water down a day.)

7. Introduce gentle exercise into your daily regime. (I know I have to work on this. There's no getting around it.)

Oh, and the other secret I would add to this is that it is a proven fact almost all successful dieters fail before they succeed. You just have to brush the crumbs off your shirt and keep trying until you find what works. And then share what works with us on this blog! :)

Back online

Hi everyone,

I'm back online! Yay! It's amazing how dependent I've become on a home computer.

California is a huge, lovely state that I can't wait to explore while I'm here. My son and I have done a little exploring already. I'm ready to see a little more than the desert now, though. Something greener, perhaps. :) He's been snowboarding, too, and not doing to badly at it. I think the most important thing he learned during his first lesson was to wear gloves next time. Manufactured snow is just as cold as the real thing.

Okay, okay...I know I haven't been weighing in. Who's idea was this weighing in every week anyway? I blame Tech. I suppose I could have given the information to Tech and let him post it for me...but you gotta understand. I spent a week driving out here and through the whole state to get my license in Sacramento. I didn't have a fridge or a stove and you just can't eat a salad while you're driving in the car. And..and...well, I ended up eating my way across the US. So, my total for this year is minus 3 pounds. I'm going to do better though. I'm in my regular place now, where I'll be for the next 11 weeks, for sure, so maybe it will go a little faster now.

It's good to be back, though. :)

Egg on My Face

I have to say I love Michelle's spanish potato omelet. :)

I took her idea and used potatoes o'brien (what could be easier?) and I added the olives back in, but mine were black. (Hate green!) I had to bake it a lot longer, I assume because the potatoes were still frozen. (Michelle?) I also used fat-free egg substitute, which cut the points down a lot. I'll try freezing a piece to see how it turns out--I'll let you know.

I'm going back to my food journal. I quit writing everything down because I was kind of keeping it in my head--I don't recommend that. If you work the program, the program works, and I need to get back to the real work.

Now I think I'll go lick my plate--yum! :)

WWIN 5

Sorry. No funny post today. I gained ... sigh ... GAINED 1.3 pounds. SIGH. Of course, I know what's wrong. I've been worried about my niece, depressed, sitting in front of the mindless TV, eating pretty much anything that sits still long enough to for me to eat. I tell you right now, ottermans are not as tasty as you might think.

I've always been an emotional eater. Depression, worry, etc., and I head for the comfort food. It's a shame that comfort food is loaded with fat, sugar and calories, but it is. I've yet to meet anyone who could take comfort from a rice cake.

So I hope you had a better week. I've pushed our total weight loss down, but I will try to do better next week. A diet is never a failure as long we pick it up again.

Another knotch

Yet another potato recipe. Can you tell I love potatoes?

Oven-Baked Spanish Potato Omelete

5 Eggs

2 cups potatoes - Cooked

1 onion - Finely chopped

1 green pepper - minced

12 green Olives - sliced

4 ounces lean ham - cubed (think the size of a pea)

Preheat oven to 350. Peal and cube cooked potatoes. Beat eggs until fluffy, fold in remaining ingredients. Spray a round nonstick cake pan with cooking spray. Spoon in omelete mixture. Bake 25-30 minutes or until eggs are set. Cut into wedges and serve.

Serving size: 4 (total)

Points each: 5

This is a pretty healthy serving. It looks like two helpings of pie and ya know...size does matter when it comes to weight loss. I made some variations myself. I removed the olives, since I don't care for them, which lowered the serving size point value by .5. I also used the frozen Potatoes O'Brien (peppers and onions are already in there) to save prep time. It didn't change the points and tasted, I am sure, just as yummy. I had myself an English Muffin (1 point) with 1/2 tablespoon of Brummel and Brown yogurt spread (serving size is a whole tablespoon at 1 point but a 1/2 is plenty for me) My total for breakfast is 6 WW points. Not Bad!

I don't remember which site I got this recipe from. I feel bad for not giving credit where credit is due. But thanks just the same. At least, I didn't take it myself. ;)

WWIN 4: The Wrath of Fat

"Captain, captain! The Fatoids are advancing!"

Captain Tech of the TGSD Starship Blackbird glanced at his weapons officer Willa Wong. "Raise diet shields, W.W.!"

"It's no good, captain!" Wong said. "They've fired a round of soft drinks with two fast food burgers!"

Tech paled. "Reverse course! Fire exercise torpedoes!"

"Captain, they've placed chocolate chip cookie mines," observed Science Officer Spooky. "We cannot retreat."

"Twinkies!" the captain swore. "Divert auxiliary power to the shields! Hold position! All hands brace for impact!"

The soft drinks and burgers hit the ship. Warning lights went off. The ship lurched.

****

A few hours later, after the Fatoids had retreated, the captain asked for a status report.

"Captain, we haven't lost ground," Spooky said. "But we haven't advanced any, either."

"Well, that's something," the captain said, frowning, the light outlining his chiseled good looks. "But we must do better next week!"

****

And if you haven't figured it out from our adventure, my weight stayed the same this week. I hope all of you do better.

It's WWIN-sday

I'm up one pound this week. I blame it on Frenzied's son's birthday (hope you don't mind too much, FF!)

Nah, I've been too indulgent and I know it. But I am doing much better when it comes to eating slow food rather than fast food. This is important to me. I think humans are too valuable to feed fast food to. I just need to make wiser choices about the slow food I prepare for myself.

I had a great salad last night with an older friend (see my blog to read about this couple. The husband is nearing death.) It had bean sprouts, grape tomatoes, squash and avocado. (There may have been more veggies. These are what I remember. She did say she changes things sometimes.) The dressing was made with pear-infused balsamic vinegar and oil with seasonings -- Mrs. Dash, pepper, and some other things. I didn't see everything she put in. She makes a mixture of the seasonings and then just shakes them over the salad as she tosses it.

It was yummy, and she said everything in it is "free" as far as calories, carbs or whatever you might be watching. I'll be picking up some of that pear-infused balsamic vinegar. It was heavenly!

*Groan*

It's going to be a tough day. It's my son's 15th birthday. :)

I'm in the house with three doughnuts leftover from treating his early-morning church class. One of them is a maple bar. I LOVE maple bars. Ohhhhhh. I hear it calling me.

Not to mention that he wants pizza for dinner tonight, and I bought a little cake so he'd have one ON his birthday. He's having friends over Friday night for a sleepover, complete with more pizza and Mississippi Mud Cake. He wanted the mud cake today, but I told him I wouldn't be left home alone with mud cake all week. I would only make it when there was a houseful of teenage boys to eat it.

One can only be optimistic with weigh-in tomorrow... ;)

My Fav

I am in LOVE with this recipe. It's super easy, incredibly yummy, inexpensive and fast, too.

Potato Soup

1 16oz Frozen Pkg. Ore Ida O'Brien Hashbrowns

4 Cans Fat Free Chicken Broth

1 Pkg. McCormick Country Gravy Mix

Grease pan with Pam (or cooking spray) Saute potatoes 10 minutes.
Add broth and bring to a boil. Prepare gravy mix according to pkg directions. Add the gravy to the potatoes and broth and simmer for 20-30 minutes.

Serving Size: 1 cup

Points: 2

I had 2 cups for lunch today, yielding 4 points. It was more than enough paired with a fresh sliced pear (2 pts).

Credit for this recipe goes to Dotties Weight Loss Zone

Waaahoooooo

It has been such a dry spell. I have not had much success in the weight loss realm. But just like the wonderful rain,God has blessed us with through out the night. I have finally on a downward track once again.

I meet with a group of ladies from our church. We have been meeting since last October. We took a break thur the Holidays. We totaled our losses today. There are 4 of us. We have a total loss of 29 lbs.

My loss this week was 2 lbs. But since I was up a little last week that makes my total loss with you all 3 lbs. My goal for this year before you started this blog, was to lose a lb a week. I am right at my goal.

I have got to exercise more. My goal for this week is 3x. I do not have any excesses. I moved the equipment around. It is easy to get to and faces the TV.

Go team Go...Lets be a small bunch of losers...

Good food/Bad food

If you want to successfully lose weight and keep it off, you have to lose the "good food/bad food" mentality. Truthfully, there are no foods so bad, in terms of weight loss, not health, that you should never eat them.

One reason is that it sets you up for a binge. You keep saying "no" to something you really, really like. Eventually, you'll start craving that food. And when you finally give in, you'll eat too much of it. If you'd allowed yourself small quantities of it along the way, you would most likely avoid the binge.

Another reason is what guilt does to your efforts. When you say something's "bad" and you're never going to eat it again, you set yourself up for a guilt trip if you do. You feel bad because you didn't stick to your plan. You start a cycle of beating up on yourself. And sometimes, you talk yourself into a binge because you've already blown it by eating this bad food.

What you have to do is learn the art of the trade-off. I'm most familiar with Weight Watchers and the point system, so I'll use it as an example. You can use whatever you're counting--calories, fat grams, etc. the same way. Let's say I really want the real deal--Buttermilk Fried Chicken. A lot of the traditional side dishes have a lot of fat and calories. Mashed Potatoes and Gravy. Biscuits. And a meal like that is often topped off with a nice big slab of apple pie a la mode. (No, I'm not trying to make you all hungry. But I can't make my point without food examples. lol)

To do the tradeoff, I look at that menu and ask, "Which foods can I reduce the points in?" The mashed potatoes and gravy are easy to make low points. I really want the real fried chicken, so I limit myself to one piece, rather than make any of the reduced point recipes I have. I skip the biscuits. You cannot make biscuits low points and have them still taste good. I add vegetables and salad. I substitute an apple streusel for the pie. Most of the points for the pie are in the crust, so by substituting a streusel topping, and eating a very small portion, I can eat dessert. I skip the ice cream. If my day is super point heavy, I make a plain baked apple with cinnamon and a bit of sugar or maple syrup.

You don't have to make the same tradeoff each time, either. Next time, I may really want the pie and ice cream. So I make a reduced point chicken recipe. If I want the biscuits, again, I do reduced point chicken and dessert recipes.

The point is that you can eat what you want, just not every day. Not every meal. You have to make choices. If I have a day where I'm feeling rebellious and want it all, I remind myself that I can plan to eat some of it next week. Or tomorrow. It's much easier to stick to a food plan if you ask the positive question--how can I eat what I want? And work with it.

I know some people have what are called "red light" foods. They swear they cannot stop eating them once they start. I don't know about the validity of that. I really think that you can learn to eat them in small portions. First, never have them in the house. Eat them in restaurants until you can eat the right portion size. Then you can bring them into the house, but immediately portion them into single-serving packages. Plan when you're going to eat that package. Sit down with it and savor every bite. Then, if you're tempted to get another package, go for a walk. You won't be perfect as you try to beat the red light food thing, but you will make progress and can learn to deal with them. You just have to let go of the idea that these foods have some special power over you. They don't. They're just food. And learning to deal with food as "just food" is crucial to winning the whole war.

Good luck, everyone. :)

Trying to Think Outside Jack in the Box

I was so excited today--DH wasn't coming home until late tonight. Now, now, I love the guy, but it meant I didn't have to cook!

I've been waiting to try an experiment in replicating the Southwest Chicken Salad Dressing at Jack in the Box. I love that stuff, but just the packet of dressing is 8 points. I had read something somewhere in the last week that someone mixes plain non-fat yogurt with salsa for a Mexican flavor.

That didn't taste all that great, kinda' flat. So I got out the taco seasoning. I started by adding just 1/2 tsp. at a time, but finally ended up dumping the whole packet in. I used 1 cup plain non-fat yogurt, 3/4 cup salsa, and the one packet of taco seasoning. Let it sit for a bit so the dehydrated onions, etc. in the seasoning can soften up. Not exactly the taste I was going for, but it was close enough I all but licked the salad bowl clean. :)

Then, and only then, I remembered the creamy, definitely-not-diet, spicy ranch dressing I had at my sister-in-law's. It tasted just like Jack in the Box dressing!

Um, duh, I think I'll try taco seasoning in low-fat or fat-free ranch dressing. I'll let you know the outcome when I try it.

Sheesh, I hate it when my brain lags behind.

WWIN 3

Announcer: It's now time for ... (drumroll) ... WWIN3! (crowd applauds) That's right! It's The Great Slim Down 2006 Wednesday Weigh In! (crowd roars) I don't know about you out there in TV audience, but I'm excited about hearing how our weight loss participants are doing! Let's check in with Tech!

TECH: Well, Bob, I've had a week in which I know I ate things I shouldn't. A cupcake, several cookies, an ox, and several other fattening things. I didn't really expect to have a loss at all. But somehow I lost 1.1 pounds! (crowd applauds quietly) I know it's not a lot, but a journey of a thousand miles starts with one step. Although I don't walk a lot. I drive places mostly, and sometimes my servants carry me, but it's the general idea I'm trying to get across, ya know. (crowd looks at each other uncertainly)

Announcer: Yes, but that still brings your total to 4.3 pounds, which until the others let us know, moves you in front in the race to lose 50 pounds! (crowd applauds wildly; dancing girls sway across the stage; balloons drop) Throughout the day, we'll be watching the results as the Wednesday Weight In 3 continues!