Being middle aged and fat aint no fun!

[InsaneCdn]

Guess I need to love food a little less.

Nope.
You need to change the KIND of food you love.
Learn to love fresh fruit and veggies.
Real food, well prepared, is a joy to eat. Even better than all the "stuff" people drown real food in.

Replace two thirds of your starches (bread, pasta, potatoes, etc.) with high-fiber, high-food-value veggies - broccoli, peppers, cabbage etc.
Drop the salad dressings, sauces and the like out completely.
Use fresh (or frozen) fruit for desert.

Those three changes alone will make a huge difference.
(trust me... it's much harder to get the same calories out of cabbage that you get out of potatoes - you get full faster)

The biggest challenge is... it requires the kind of cooking that you can't just throw in a slow-cooker and forget about. You have to love food enough to actually... cook!

 

[Scent of Cedar *]

And yourself.

You have to love yourself enough.

What about periodic fasting as a way of changing things around? Say, one day a week, or three days a month, or no dinner on certain days?

You could use that dinner time to sit with Jabber under the stars somewhere and talk about the best meals you've ever eaten.

That's the key, I think.

Treating ourselves better, changing the things we think make us happy or sad. Being right there in the present moment. It's really hard to do that, actually. Be present, I mean.

It is, for me.

When I am into sweets, it seems I cannot get enough. When I stop eating sweets (and carbs ~ same thing), there is a withdrawal period of intense craving and then, I feel better. So much better, lighter, stronger, happier, less focused on what I am going to eat.

D H is all about food, but he is skinny as a rail.

I would never be able to stick to a diet, I just know it.

The best I can do is not eat the bad stuff ~ and even that is hard for me.

Cedar

 

[Lil]

The biggest challenge is... it requires the kind of cooking that you can't just throw in a slow-cooker and forget about. You have to love food enough to actually... cook!

Well working two jobs - that's pretty much impossible. I love to cook. I do NOT have time to cook like I wish I could. There's nothing wrong with the crockpot...I just need to maybe do salads to go with it...or cook something with lots of veggies.

What about periodic fasting as a way of changing things around? Say, one day a week, or three days a month, or no dinner on certain days?

Yeah - that's SO not going to happen. Jabber will tell you - I am an unpleasant person when I'm hungry. I always have been. I don't know whether my blood sugar drops or what, but even when I was in my early 20's, I remember taking a business trip with my boss and when we got back to the office he told everyone, "You have to feed Lil - she get's mean if you don't!"

Actually, the nurse practitioner was more concerned with cutting out "complex sugars" i.e. candy etc., upping veggies and "good" fish and exercise. Especially exercise. Of course, I came to work fully intending to walk at lunch and it's supposed to be pouring rain.

On the up side, she also gave me a lead on an obgyn who specializes in peri-menopause. I quit going to the obgyn in favor of just using my usual doctor a few years back because they all are devoted to the OB and birth'n babies. I want a doctor who specializes in us old ladies who are done with all that business. Once I get the stupid hernia surgery out of the way, I'll be making an appointment with a lady doctor.

Funny story: She was telling me about the obgyn office and remarked, "You'll think you're at a spa." I said, "Why of course, everyone wants to have a nice spa experience and a pelvic exam. What fun." She wasn't sure if I was serious or not! LOL! Once she realized I was joking, she told me they do actually have a massage therapist there. There's just something a little off about going for a pap smear and a massage.

 

[Scent of Cedar *]

Why of course, everyone wants to have a nice spa experience and a pelvic exam.

HA!!!

 

[InsaneCdn]

Sorry, I didn't mean to knock crock pots. Its just that all the recipes I've ever seen include a "bottle" of ... pasta sauce, or something.

(and I happen to have a sensory issue with sauces so... crock pot doesn't visit my house)

Yes, a nice "stew" can be healthy, and low in fat and sugar. Its all about the recipe.

 

[Lil]

I admit, I am a fan of sauces. Gravy, marinara, hollandaise, Alfredo - (Mmmmm - Alfredo) - yeah...I like my sauces.



We do tend to eat a lot of pasta, because it's quick. But I have a number of decent crockpot recipes. I have a couple of good stew recipes, a lot of soup recipes, a roast recipe, etc. I guess my chicken stroganoff - which calls for a brick of cream cheese - is probably no longer the best. Hey, it's low carb! lol Really, it's not one we actually make often.

Today I have a pork roast in the pot for Carnitas. I've never made it before, and we eat very little pork, but the recipe looks really good and the roast was lean sirloin (on sale for $1.49 a pound!) We don't eat much red meat either - since they apparently started feeding cows gold, judging by the price. I told the guy at the meat counter the other day that, as expensive as it is, you'd expect to see the marbling in meat to glitter and shine!

We eat mostly chicken already. We almost never fry anything and use pretty much only olive oil. We actually don't eat many potatoes. We do tend to eat a lot of pasta and rice, but I can switch to whole grain easily enough. Cut out the sweets, up the veggies and fruits. I can do this.

 

[InsaneCdn]

Lil... on the off-hand chance... IF you have any Irish blood in you? Ditch grains. Use potatoes instead.

I don't know if it's scientific or not, but my brother found this diet somewhere... not for weight, but for health... and the focus was on very low starch, but especially grains... "especially if you have Irish ancestors". The theory is that the Irish survived for so many generations on potatoes and almost NO grains that... their bodies don't handle grain well. My brother said it made a big difference to how he felt (and he lost some weight)

I find that the more I cut back on starch, the better I feel.

 

[Jabberwockey]

Those three changes alone will make a huge difference.
(trust me... it's much harder to get the same calories out of cabbage that you get out of potatoes - you get full faster)

Trust me, getting Lil to eat cabbage will be a challenge!! Yeah, ditching the sauces will be a challenge.

There's just something a little off about going for a pap smear and a massage.

Notice the lack of sarcastic comment here?!?!

D H is all about food, but he is skinny as a rail.

Yeah, one of my sisters ex-husbands was like this. He could eat a gallon of ice cream and lose weight...bastard! LOL! Funny enough, he is full blooded Italian!

 

[Scent of Cedar *]

Lil... on the off-hand chance... IF you have any Irish blood in you? Ditch grains. Use potatoes instead.

My mother was full-blooded Irish. I have a terrible time with grains and with pasta and even with rice, but do really well with potatoes. Here is the thing about potatoes that D H and I have noticed. They exacerbate arthritic pain and swelling.

This is true especially for D H.

Here is something I have seen work for my sister-in-law, and even for my sister, who did not have alot of excess weight, but carried what she did have in...er, below the waist. So, at different times, both stopped eating anything but meat. No fruit, or very little, because of the sugar in it. They added salads and vegetables of every kind over time.

D H sister lost so much weight that she was able to stop using insulin.

We don't eat much red meat either - since they apparently started feeding cows gold, judging by the price. I told the guy at the meat counter the other day that, as expensive as it is, you'd expect to see the marbling in meat to glitter and shine!

Now, that is totally funny. I love this. I am going to say this to someone one day.

:O)

Cedar

 

[Lil]

IF you have any Irish blood in you? Ditch grains. Use potatoes instead.

Huh? That's interesting. As a matter of fact, my mother was mostly Irish (her grandfather came from Ireland) - with some French, Scot and American Indian thrown in. Dad's dad was 100% German - but we have no idea what his mother's heritage was as she died when he was a toddler.

We ate a lot of potatoes growing up...well a lot of everything really. My mom was a great country cook, but I think growing up in the depression did something to the meal-planning. I remember my parents saying that if the family cleaned the table - not your plate, the TABLE - it would be a good day tomorrow. Dinner was always meat, potatoes, two veggies, salad, bread and dessert. Breakfast on a weekend for the whole family might be eggs, some type of meat (maybe more than 1), potatoes, toast, jelly, sweet rolls and fruit - ALL of those things!

There was a reason we grew up into big people.

Notice the lack of sarcastic comment here?!?!

LOL...I guess I kind if hijacked your thread, huh?

 

[Lil]

You know, something just occurred to me @Jabberwockey. We get all kinds of free visits from EAP, not just counseling. I think we actually get a nutritionist or dietitian. Maybe we should check on that? Could be very helpful.

 

[Jabberwockey]

Maybe we should check on that? Could be very helpful.

Worth a look.

 

[Lil]

No...actually they don't do that. They can give a referral but that's it.

 

[Lil]

 

[Lil]

Well poo. My Dr told me I'd be off work a few days with the hernia surgery. The surgeon had a different time frame-TWO WEEKS! I'm gonna be putting in a LOT of overtime to get ready for that.

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[InsaneCdn]

Guess it depends on... what you do, and where the hernia is, and how bad it is...
I've known people back at work in 3 days. Or two weeks. Depending.

 

[Jabberwockey]

Its more about the walk from the parking lot up the big hill than anything. We will just have to wait and see.

 

[InsaneCdn]

That would be EASY... Jabber, you can just push her up the hill in a wheel chair.

 

[Lil]

That would be EASY... Jabber, you can just push her up the hill in a wheel chair.

More a problem of him working the other way and starting half hour earlier. But she was pretty insistant I'd be in a lot of discomfort for at least 7 full days.

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[Scent of Cedar *]

:O)

Cedar