There are some rules - You can adjust within an hour or so, but you have to stay pretty close to the times for it to work.
1)You must eat breakfast, lunch, dinner, 2 snacks, and stop all eating by 7:00 PM.
2.)Limit your portions to the size of the palm of your hand. (if you are a piggy like Star - add your thumb, but not all your fingers)
3.)Check your SUGAR content on everything you eat - NOTHING over 10grams of sugar. Even 11 grams - It's not for you. THROW IT BACK.
4.) PORTION CONTROL - if the bag says 100 calories/serving is 13 chips - bag up 13 chips - that is your serving. Nothing more. No cheating.
5.) To Start: 1600 Calories is your goal PER DAY. After you have lost around 100 lbs and are comfortable? You can go up to 2000 calories/Day
6.) 6-8 Bottles of water a day. SPLURGE and get bottled water. Or get one pack and refill the bottles - but use this as a guide.
7.) READ, READ, READ - pkg. content for sugar free items - and start swapping over....to sugar reduced, sugar free.
8.) Got milk? Got 1% - WAY less sugar - and try to limit it to 1 glass a day - milk has loads of sugar in it.
9.) Wheat pasta - WAY better for you.
10.) Grocery store walls - YOUR NEW BUDDY - Fruits, veggies should be 1/2 of your plate at each meal. SHOP accordingly. Meats and fish! Yeah. Fish should be eaten at least once a week. Salmon, tuna - Broiled- microwaved, baked. WORK IT IN...I count captain D's battered fish as my meal. And dairy....yogurt? Wow yeah - read the sugar content. There is only one yogurt that has under 10 grams of sugar - find it. Cheese, eggs, and anything else is good.
This is not a hard way of life to follow. It's also not expensive. It's not difficult. I think the most difficult things are - getting your family to get on board with you, and help out by not eating sugary things in front of you AND stop eating after 7PM.
Why stop eating after 7:00 PM. When you are diabetic or pre-diabetic or over 35 it takes your body 12 hours at least to process all the stuff you have eaten all day and give it time to break it down and process it correctly. Its the difference between giving a person time to clean a house like you would want to before your mother in law gets there and a phone call 1 hour before she gets there, and shoving stuff all over the place.
So what is a typical day like? What are some of the foods we eat? Keep in mind These are PORTIONs marked on the package so I wont say 1 cup or whatever - it's a givvy.
Breakfast
Bowl of oatmeal with 1 tsp margarine (oh and check that out - how many calories in 1 tsp. margarine) like - 70. WOW.) and 2 tsp. Splenda blend.
1 piece of calorie toast, with 1 tsp margarine, and 1 tsp of sugar free jelly or sugar reduced grape jelly.
1 banana (I use this for restless leg syndrome)
Take morning medications
Mid morning snack - (pick one)
Bunch of white grapes, red grapes, apple (use apple corer makes more slices you think you are getting 10 snacks), baked potato chips, pretzels, a yogurt cup, the Nabisco 100 calories snack pack cookies there are scads of these available, snack pack jello - this is only 10 calories and you can find sugar free cool whip and load it up with that for a really tasty treat, a popsicle, fudgsicle, an orange, a peach, nectarine, animal crackers, chocolate animal crackers (walmart), you can even find a lot of cookies that are under 10 grams of sugar - but keep in mind portions will be small and usually you can only have 1 or two. There are a lot of things you can have here for a snack - I used to try to keep my snacks around 100 calories or at least 150 calories.
Lunch - When I worked? I would try a Weight Watchers frozen dinner and added a snack (from above)as my dessert, with a water or a crystal light added to the water. If I packed a lunch? I would use the Wheat bread calorie reduced 45 calorie a slice bread, tried to stay to ham, turkey, or peanut butter. Peanut butter is excellent source of protein and it's important to find meals high in protein. Also some days I would skip the bread and add instead just the meat and cheese. Somedays I would have the bread, meat and a slice of cheese. It's not a way of life to beat yourself up, its a way of life to change your eating habits. If I had a sandwhich, I had chips or pretzels, and a fruit.
For mid afternoon snack? I had fruit again, or sliced veggies and dip. Again - just watch the sugar. Celery? You can have celery a lot, and some dips have low cal, little sugars. The ones that are low fat - are usually higher in sugar - take something out? Put something in. Amazing. Low fat is not necessarily helpful for this diet. WATCH YOUR SUGAR is the main thing here. I didn't freak over carbs, or much else. I do watch the salt, and I do try to make sure that the nutrition % is in line with what the government recommends. Sounds hokey - but RDA says 5% and under is good for you on most ingredients. They're right. I don't go crazy watching things either.
As far as candy? Well - Walmart has an entire Sugar Free section - Bubblegum, Candy, Hard Candy, sour candy, licorice - you name it? They got it. No reason to cheat there either. Usually .99 cents to $2.50 a bag. As far as candy and mints otherwise - a lot of gum and mints are sugar free and it does add up. When I started I would think - Yes but this .99 cent bag of junk is cheaper than...and in the long run - it's my health we are talking about - so for .50 more? I started getting the sugar free things.
Other tricks I have done - that really help.
When everyone else is using the HUGE plate? I grabbed a middle sized plate. Even if you have to go to a thrift store? GET ONE. This will help your brain think - Ahhhhh I'm filling up my portions. remember 2/3rds veggies and fruits - 1 part meat 1 part starches. And keep portions to the size of the palm of your hand - yes on meats - so if you are having steak - CUT IT DOWN. That porterhouse is now the size of the palm of your hand. That baked potato is now - the size of the palm of your hand. That portion of mashed taters - is what? The size of the trunk of your car. NO NO NO. And the butter you are lathering on? BACK off.....70 + 70=140 calories - so literally you just put a snack on your potatos. Think about it.
If it helps you? Keep a food diary and roughly guess at how much you ate. Here's an amazing fact. It takes getting rid of 3500 calories a day to get rid of ONE SINGLE POUND. Now how motivated are you? Skipping meals? Not gonna help either. Because you have to fuel your body to the next meal to keep the pangs of hunger away -----so that you do not GORGE yourself at the meal, and can actually start NOT eating all 13 chips at lunch. It happens. Believe me. If someone had said that years ago I would have said - Yeah right. I have to have my chips and Pepsi. I don't have to have anything. And I love her forever for giving me my Mantra
NOTHING TASTES AS GOOD AS THIN FEELS - and it feels HEALTHY.....
Other tips....
Because I embarassed my son by wheezing and waddling into Walmart - not able to walk from the handicapped spot to the lawn and garden check out.....
Park as far away as you can and WALK - Walking is not something you MUST do.
Here's a simple test. Stand up. (right now) Now stand on one leg - kinda like a flamingo. Got it? Good. Now walk. Yup - walk. WALK. Not hop...walk. How many of you did that? Yeah none of us. A lot of diabetics loose a foot or a limb because they wont loose weight and they won't get out and walk. The US government actually has a program for FREE shoes for diabetics if you are on Medicare. I never knew that either. True. Rather give you shoes than surgery to cut off a limb.
And this new way of life - well I'm lazy - (actually I'm a tad hyper) but exercise? bleeeeeech. At 300 lbs? You say the words "AND YOU MUST EXERCISE?" and I say (Words I am not allowed to say on the board) BUT ........the secret here is???? Once you start loosing weight? You start feeling soooo good, you MOVE......and girls - YOU MOVE like - you feel good, and you feel good - you start thinking - HEY - I can walk, I can park back there, I will - and now you are what? .....ex...er.cising. There are things you can do in your house - walking in place for 15 minutes - turn on one of those exercise shows and try - no one sees you - why not? I tried belly dancing. Only the dog laughed but I was moving.
Now supper comes -
I have
Fried chicken, mashed potatos, peas
and a dessert.
or
Salmon, a baked potato,
Corn, and a dessert
or
Chili, a slice of cornbread,
and a dessert
or
A fried hamburger, Tatertots,
Peas and carrots,
and a dessert
I have whatever I want - I just keep the portions to my size, I try to work in a fruit if possible, I make loads of sugar free jello and have the right portion, I keep sugar free cool whip or reddy whip sugar free - which in all honesty? You can have the other - but I try to find as many sugar free things as I can.
Then once in a while - Maybe on Saturday?
I'll have a movie and a bag of Smart Pop or Weight Watchers approved popcorn, and a Crystal light with a couple pices of candy for a treat -
OR
A Slim -a Bear Ice cream sandwich (reduced sugar) 110 calorie I think -
and take one of the kids for a walk - or pull weeds....or try to do something that keeps me moving - (kennel work and scooping poop is laborous and smelly) playing with the dogs? WAY more fun. - volunteer for that first. lol
Easter coming up - Don't want to be left out?
There are sugar free easter bunnies, sugar free jelly belly beans. Sugar free everything -
You can also have almost everything that your family will be having - just on a smaller plate...because you are (NH) not healthy.
So check the cans and the content, and the sugars - and find out BEFORE it's served what, how much you can have.
It takes a little planning, and it takes a little reading at the supermarket - but once you get in the habit of it? You can start learning how to figure it out.
We do pancakes for breakfast - and mix the syrup because sugar free syrup wasnt' our fav. So I got 1 bottle sugar free and one bottle sugar reduced and mixed them. I couldn't care less now? Waffle house has the ABSOLUTE best sugar free syrup I've ever had. Smuckers to me has the best sugar free blackberry preserves ever.
Oh and sad to say - but ALL window food is out. There are no friendly Fast food restaurants. None.
McDonalds offers Apple slices - that's about it. And diet coke.....
Ahhh and about the * for diet sodas... Okay - here we go.
There is a supposed chemical in diet sodas Not sure what not a chemist so I have no proof, but supposedly diet sodas make you crave food. I believe there to be some truth in this in some people because it's all DF will drink. I love water - I love ice---it's about all I will drink. Occasionally I will treat myself to an A&W rootbeer - and a bag of salt and vinegar chips - the .25 one. DF drinks sodas all the time. He's gone off the miracle rear and has a very hard time with self-control, but won't stop the sodas. WHEN WE WERE water drinkers? he didn't have the problem. Now he's a man, he will blame everything else - his medications, his back, his depression - oddly enough we take the same AD. Again - I have no clue - I just know that he was a size 44 pants, and went to a size 34. I was a size 22 and went to a a size 7-8 and can get into some 6's. He's back into a 36 cruisin back to a 38. He's grumpier, not happy with himself, and is back on his own volition doing the deal.
For me? I think once I hit 162 lbs I thought - "Ehhhh well I look good, I feel good, I can have that box of sugar free valentines Witman sampler, and then Df brought out the 2nd one and well - I lost control too - then the pants said - WOW - eeeeeeeeehhhhh look at eeeeeeeh that. (straining) I haven't stepped on a scale except at my doctors. I did take a few pics - and I kept 1 pair of pants. The rest I donated for money for charity. But I did get a scale at home now - because THAT seems like the only thing that keeps DF in line. I think it's an evil little liar. 164.2 ? liar! But Now me and the duckeater - are back on the walk. I tried a bike - but OMG they do not make a seat wide enough no matter HOW tiny your hiney gets. I swear unless it looks like a horse saddle I refuse to ever try that again. I couldn't walk for 2 days. (when I did I looked like I was trying to not step in paint)
Anyway - that's it basically - if you have questions - feel free to ask. I'll try to help. My doctor didn't really say THIS IS WHAT you do - This is what I came up with
She said - EAT PROTEIN - Fish, peanut butter - watch your calories...and drink lots of water. Cut out sugar. When I said how much? She said 10 grams or less. Nothing after 7 - BLD and 2 snacks. This is what's worked.
Hugs - YOU CAN DO IT. - I would love to do that P90 X - I bet if we did that? I'd have to change the name of the book - lol.
6-7 AM Breakfast
10 AM SNACK
12 PM Lunch
3 PM SNACK
5-6 Dinner /Dessert
7PM - NOTHING ELSE FOR THE EVENING - ABSOLUTELY NO EATING. PERIOD.
Water, Crystal light, if you must diet soda...but limit this*
