Explaining Eats
I get lots of questions about what I eat, so I thought I’d explain it here. I’m a big believer that you should follow whatever eating regimen works for YOU, and that just because I eat this way doesn’t mean everyone should. I’ve had to change the way I think about food so dramatically during this weight loss journey. I used to eat for entertainment, satisfaction, comfort. Now, I try to eat to live.
I practice a low carbohydrate lifestyle. I say it’s a lifestyle rather than a diet because it’s something plan on following for the rest of my life. I follow a plan close to Atkins Induction, so I eat 20-30 net carbs per day. Net carbs = Total Carbs – Fiber. I avoid anything highly processed and also avoid sugar alcohols that are in many of the specialty low carb-labeled products.
I’ve also recently started eating more frequently during the day. So I split my lunch into 2 smaller meals a couple of hours apart. Same with dinner. The goal is to never feel full, but to never feel hungry. This is way harder than it sounds!
Sample day of food includes:
Breakfast: 2 hard boiled egg whites, 1 string cheese (full fat), Carbmaster yogurt
Snack: handful of raw almonds, or a string cheese or yogurt
Lunch: Jimmy Johns unwich- any kind, no mayonnaise. Split into 2 meals- 1/2 at “lunchtime” and the other half a couple of hours later
Dinner: Seared tuna steak with broccoli OR Chicken breast with cabbage OR Sauteed shrimp with avocado
Snack: raw almonds, almond milk, string cheese, pistachios, yogurt, etc
As I said earlier- I support all forms of eating- vegan, low calorie, low fat, raw foods, whatever. If you have an abundance of energy and the program is something you can maintain for the long run, go for it!
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Hi Emmie I am 43 yrs. old and have 9 children. Over the years I've gained a lot of weight, or should I say over the last eight years, my last 4 children. My height is 5'11 and I'm 319 lbs. I am about to have bariatric surgery on April 8, and I am very nervous. I notice you mentioned your way of eating, Do you think it will work for me or is it working for you because of your body type?
Hi Carla. I think that it doesn't really matter what kind of body type you
have- you just need to find a program that you can stick to long term.
That's why this program works for me- I don't feel hungry or deprived on it.
Where are many though, who DO feel deprived without the sugar and carby
items.
I have several acquantances that had gastric bypass (RNY) that actually
transition to this sort of lifestyle because that's what they need to do
long-term: The high protein, low sugar diet. If you're going through with
the surgery, I guess my only concern is that 1) you know all the risks and
how life will be “after” and are okay with that; 2) that you fully
understand how you MUST eat to live going forward- essentially living the
diet “prescription” that is required from a successful RNY patient: getting
all the vitamins in, all the protein in, limiting the sugars and starches,
no soda, no smoking, etc. Those that can confidently follow those doctor
prescribed steps and meet all their nutritional requirements usually do
great! Just make sure you know what you're in for.
I'm not pro or against RNY or any type of surgical procedure for weight
loss. In the end, it's a tool. If you are confident you can use the tool
correctly, the success should follow!
I hope your nervous because of just being anxious, or ready to get it done;
and not because you're scared you must do the surgery as it's your only
option.
No matter what you do, I wish you nothing but success, health and happiness!
This way works! My DH and I swear by it…we fall off the wagon every so often but, it does work!
I actually think there are right ways and wrong ways to eat. But it is not because I want to be fundamentalist and intolerant. It's because Mother Nature's kind of that way. Some things work very well, some things don't work at all and some things fall in between someplace. But there are no human beings who can survive breathing methane, and there are no human beings who stay healthy forever on a diet heavy in grains and soy with five salads a day for color. There just aren't.
You might see some health gains in the short term on such a diet if what you were eating prior to then was even worse. But you will not get away with it forever.
I look at it this way–the primate order began as an insectivorous order of mammals. This is the answer to the question “if human beings are supposed to eat meat why don't we have claws and huge canines”–because we're supposed to eat bug meat and you don't have to have claws to kill a bug. But bugs are still meat. Which is why humans adapted so well to first scavenging lion kills, then developing tools and hunting our own.
And that is what carried us through the Ice Age when there was no vegetation worth speaking of, and what carried us through three million years of not knowing how to farm.
Everything we eat aside from bugs and critters is window dressing. It can benefit us, but we don't need it. And if we eat too much of the window dressing and not enough of the window, so to speak, eventually we pay for it in diminished health outcomes.
That said, there are so many variations on the species-appropriate human diet. The key question is whether you are meeting your requirements for both macronutrient (fat/carb/protein) ratios and micronutrient (vitamin/mineral) levels. If the answer is “no,” you need to change your diet. If the answer is “yes,” keep on truckin', obviously you're managing even if you're not eating like a stone age hominid.
But I can pretty much guarantee you that 100 percent of vegans and most vegetarians are not hitting those ratios and those amounts. With the possible exception of vegetarians who eat huge amounts of eggs. They just can't. No amount of wishing is going to change that, either.
I always did think it interesting that publications catering to vegans and vegetarians and Meatless Monday adherents and the like, also contain lots of ads for digestive upsets and allergies, and advocacy materials for kids with autism.
Just sayin'.
this may work for quick loss — but your body DOES need carbs to live. [i'm 5'4″, 27 and on 3.17.10 weighed 226lbs. On 6.16.10 weighed 197. I'm on Phentermine and a 1300kcal diet combined with massive biking). While reading how to be a better cyclist and recover from workouts that are long (I rode 40 miles two saturdays ago, and 60 miles last wednesday for a total of 320 miles in the month of June… this is my 1st year on a bike since High School). . . the suggestions are to use carbs to feed your body a few hours before, and right after a workout.
After a really hard ride (if i bike to work, the ride home i push myself as hard and fast as I can — its only a 40 min ride that way, and i build muscle which uses more calories during the day) is the only time I eat major carbs – so if I want spaghetti for the night, i work my ass off on the way home. . . and the key is that you have to eat it within 15 minutes of getting done with a workout… but during that time, your body is going to use the carbs completely different than it would otherwise.
The reason I love cycling… as a fat chick… is because if I go for a walk or run, i get tired fast and have to stop… on the bike I get tired… but i can coast for a few seconds to recover. I've found that wearing a heart rate monitor is VERY important. If I feel like i'm going to pass out, i can see that my heart it working to hard and I can train myself to slow down.
In school I could never run more than 1/2 mile because I was pushing myself to hard to early. I never learned how to pace myself because I couldn't understand how much harder my heart was working. I find the HR monitor also helps me gauge hydration (if its too high and your'e barely working your blood is too thick and you need water).
Buy a bike. Get a new seat. Go for short 20 min rides with occasional sprints and bursts of speed to train your heart to be more efficient. . .
I'm on a 1300 kcal diet b/c my doctor said that you should eat no more than 10 kcal for every pound you weigh. Well with that, no wonder half of america weighs 200 lbs. We're told to eat 2,000 calories! And duh i weighted nearly 230. Whats an extra 300 calories a day?!?
EAS makes a shake called advantage. I used that 2-3 times a day b/c I'm also required to get at least 70g protein EVERY DAY.
This diet is working WONDERS for me. . . the pill helps alot, but every 3 weeks i take a week off so i don't get used to it, and while the loss isn't as fast when i'm not taking, there is still loss [though i'm in a stalemate right now, its because i've gone back to soda/sigar. Stupid Caffeine [since aspartame blocks weight loss, i'll never drink it – i'd rather have real sugar than fake).
Well, thats what i have going… Good luck to you!
First, congrats on all you progress! The diet seems like a great start but there are a few things I wonder about. Your diet seems very high in processed foods and was wondering the reason for this. Is it convenience or preference or what?
Starting with breakfast, why would you replace the egg fat with dairy fat? You can get very high quality omega-3 enriched eggs (just means they fed the chickens flax seed) that would be superior, at least in my opinion, to the cheese. Omega-3 eggs are around a 1:1 ratio of n-3:n-6. The processed dairy is almost pure n-6. Plus, the carbmaster yogurt is extremely processed. Reading the ingredient list looks like a chemistry experiment, not a grocery list. Why not just some simple high-quality greek style yogut (which is just cultured dairy, nothing else) or no dairy all together? And why no veggies?
Moving to lunch, why split it into 2 meals? There is no metabolic advantage to grazing. I know almost everyone will tell you there is but in reality there isn't. Also, why the heavily processed meats? I think you would be better severed with real food. Sure, it is not as easy as running to jimmy johns but it is much, much healthier.
Dinner looks almost perfect. I would cook the seafood or chicken (especially if breast) in coconut oil to add some fat but other than that is looks really good.
How about fish oil or krill oil?
Like i said, great start and congrats on your progress! I look forward to watching your journey.
I've done lots of diets & think different things work for different people at different times. I too eat restricted carbs now, and I find it easier and simpler than a lot of other diets I've tried. I've been successful on many – WW, low cal, low fat, etc, but right now this is working for me & my life. When it's not, I'll change.
PS : I think you made a slip when you put the calculation of net carbs as “Net carbs = Total Carbs – Sugar” Should be Net Carbs = Total carbs – FIBER
So glad you caught that, thanks!
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