Diets, general. How does THAT work then?

[Ragnar]

O.K. So I must stick to this diet thing for diabetes. Which, because I am not insulin dependent is not so hard.

I thought I may as well take the opportunity to loose weight as well.

Now.

By ALL dieticians and diets, we are told "If you can not finish what is on your plate. DON'T! That just means you are eating extra that you do not need".

So.

Calories. We are also told that if we eat too FEW calories, the body goes into "winter mode" and just piles on what it DOES get, as fat. SO, it is important to eat, in my case 1,900 or so calories per day for a 1,000 deficit.

BUT, most days I have trouble getting to 1,000, let alone 1,900! YET everyone, including my doctor says I MUST eat that, or my body will just produce fat.

HOW do these two ideas, ie the half full plate to be sent back, and the body thinking winter is coming, fit together in a supposedly logical way?

Any one know more about this nutrition thingy than me around here? (NOT that, THAT will be difficult. )

[Kitsune]

I'm certain Crazy would understand this better than I do, but I'll give it a shot.

It is vastly healthier and gets your metabolism moving much more quickly if you are eating 4-6 tiny meals a day, instead of 1-3 larger ones. You eat more, but because your body always knows there is a little bit more coming in another 2-3 hours, your metabolism doesn't let you go into starvation mode. If you're only eating 1-3 larger meals, and you are full, it's your bodies way of saying that you are full, but because your body has another 13 hours or longer till you eat again, it will go into starvation mode.

I've found the healthiest way to lose weight (although I'm not very good at sticking with it yet) is to find out how many calories you are supposed to have, and then cut off 500 calories from that. With even a small amount of exercise, you should lose 1-3 lbs a week (conversion to kg?... sorry, not sure what it would be).

I did great for 5 days on mine... then I had a bad week where every second meal required that I be out of the house.

And of course, I put the weight right back on. So, I'm back on it strickly again. I allow myself to eat whatever I want, but I need to count the calories as closely as I can. With my current weight and level of activity I should be using 2700 calories a day, so I've cut myself down to 2200 calories a day, with the caviot of trying to keep myself under 2000 total.

Like I said, my first 5 days I lost weight, and it was easy. This also means that any "starving/hungry" feelings I have I can mostly put off to my mental addiction to food, instead of worrying about if I'm being healthy or not.

I'll let you know how my attempt is going every week or so (it's not like we're chatting about anything else on here). The only thing is I can't start my exercising tonight... I've come down with a cold that's developing into a fever, so I'm resting.

Anyone know any healthy homemade soup recipes?

[Crazy Healer Lady]

That stuff goes a little over my head, and to be fully honest, I think a lot of it's bogus. If diets worked, there would not be an obesity "epidemic" and millions of people spending hard cash on diet plans.

I've seen good results from people doing a diabetic diet, though. All you really need to keep in mind is eat lots of fresh healthy produce, greens especially. Eat as little processed food as possible (none would be better). Cooked grains (bread!) and cooked starches cause an imbalance in blood sugar by making it spike and then crash, causing people to gain weight, as well as create problems when you're diabetic. Uncooked starches, such as carrots and even fruit, do not cause the blood sugar to spike. It slowly raises your blood sugar a fraction of the amount, but does not cause the sharp downfall. Greens (kale, lettuces, spinach, chard, dandelion, etc) are HUGE in helping the body to heal from any disorder. They contain a LOT of protein (amino acids) as well as vits and minerals, while being very low-calorie. It's recommended by many that they be in smoothie form at first rather than salads, as most people have lost the ability to chew and digest greens properly due to a lifetime of canned and processed foods (burgers, etc). People have found great success in losing weight by drinking a green smoothie a day. What this does is it gives you a good dose of nutrients, which helps to stop your body from tricking you into eating heavy calories that are nutrient-devoid, which throws the whole thing out of whack. When your body is hungry, it's telling you that it needs nutrients. Those nutrients are not in, say, a burger, but it's calorie-dense, which tricks the body (in survival/winter mode already) into thinking it's satiated. So, a few hours later, you're hungry again, and craving something with lots of calories.

I'm sure I've posted the link before, but this is something to keep in mind. I've seen a lot of people heal from even switching 2 meals a day to living food.

Something I'll repeat on my deathbed: Calorie-counting does NOT work long-term for weight loss, or even often for health.

[Dark Waters]

What you need to do then is eat more high-calorie foods. But portions and timing is important.

For most trying to lose weight, you can eat the same stuff, just smaller portions. If you are having trouble getting to a calorie level then the key is in the other half of the equation instead of 2 or 3 good size meals a day have 4 or 5 slightly smaller meals, you'll end up with more calories without having to try and stuff yourself at any one sitting.

However, if you really are having trouble getting to a mere 1000 cals, then that is another problem entirely - to maintain your self you should be near the 3000 cal range and as you said drop about 1000 to lose.
If you start getting those extra calories, I think you notice having more energy.

CHL,

the problem is not with the diets per se, alot of the time it is the motivation of the people. Take myself, I know I should drop nearly 100 lbs, I know what I need to do and what I should eat - but I rarely make the effort - no motivation for a variety of excuses, and I know that is just what they are.

Don't get me wrong, there are many bad "diets" out there, almost always evident by saying to eat ONLY one type of food. But good nutrition requires balanced foods, just smaller portions if you want to lose. Of course being active to burn what you take in is also very important.

[Ragnar]

Hmm. What I am doing IS four or five small meals. STILL having trouble getting the amount of calories I should be, because I am FULL. I just CAN not eat any more.

This is one thing where my doctors will not understand, I can normally go four to seven days without eating at ALL. I ask to see a dietician and get the "Oh you don't need that" answer. And you need a letter from your general doctor before another, specialist, will see you, and doctors tend to look at dieticians in the same light as acupuncture, homeopathy and African tribal witch doctors. So it is a problem.

CHL. Sorry lass, but calorie counting is the only thing that has EVER worked for me. Thing is, now, I have cut out, MUST cut out, sugar COMPLETELY.

As an aside, I have two lists. One is what to eat to avoid gout, one is what to eat to control diabetes.

The list of what to eat to control diabetes is the EXACT list of what NOT to eat when you have gout, and the other way around!

[Kitsune]

Losing weight by counting calories can work... if you're eating too much already (Like me... I'm entirely guilty here ). Then what you're doing is cutting out a lot of the extras and your weight will gear more towards healthy.

Personally, now that me and Joe are trying to lose the weight, we have been having salads 5 - 10 times a week. Why? Because lettuce is very low in the amount of calories you get from it.

Although once you're healthy and eating properly anyways, No, I don't think calorie counting will help at that point.

But as I said, my personal goal is to become healthy... "Thin" is something else entirely and not what I'm aiming at (though I don't mind telling you guys that when I have really low self-esteem days, "Thin" is all I want).

As for you Ragnar... I would suggest doing as Crazy suggests and start drinking some of those nutrients. In your case, it sounds like your body is already in survival mode. Sipping continually on something with calories, like the infamous Green Smoothie, will help you get your body out of that and kick start your metabolism again. It's sort of like tricking your body into getting more food/healthy natural fuel and yet not feeling full. After all, drinks are actually worse than Chinese food for "feeling hungry 30 minutes later".

[Ragnar]

I can not put ANY liquid thicker than water in my mouth. Even carrot juice. I just throw up. So that is "smoothies" out.

And digestion is not the reason. The fact I am basically NOT hungry is.

[Dark Waters]

To be honest, then it sounds like some kind of blockage is in place somewhere in the digestive tract that is always making you feel full and preventing eating more.
You may need to be scoped from one end or the other, or an MRI to see if something is pressing on the upper stomach which would trigger the "full" response.

However if you are able to eat any solid food, then the smoothies which are thinner shouldn't be a problem. Possibly a psychological reaction, try holding and swishing
thick liquid in your mouth without swallowing. If you still feel the nausea response, then the issue may not be pyshical.

[Ragnar]

You may need to be scoped from one end or the other, or an MRI to see if something is pressing on the upper stomach which would trigger the "full" response.

Done it five times in two years.

However if you are able to eat any solid food, then the smoothies which are thinner shouldn't be a problem.

No. It is the texture that does it. Drink should be liquid and food solid. Any that differ make me throw up.

I can not eat soup for example. You either drink it or eat it. Soup tries to be both, and for me that does not work.

Another, and PERFECT example is "Weißenbier".

You get Kristal, or Hefe. Hefe has the grains of wheat in it, that float about half way up the glass. As SOON as one of those wheat grains goes in my mouth, I MUST dissapear to a safe place to throw up......and FAST!

It is, naturally, psychological, not physical. But then ask Lisa (My misses), she married me BECAUSE I am nuts!

OH, and talking of "nuts", We are just back from fighting the French. TOTALLY soaked through, COLD, need two days sleep.

BUT it was fun.......HONEST!

[Dark Waters]

"Fighting" ... "French" ... ??? Somehow it's hard to reconcile those two words in the same sentence ... lol.

Seems to me that most of French Fighting Spirit migrated to a wee place just North of my spread ... Viva le Canada!

[Crazy Healer Lady]

Sorry I've been away for a bit

Ragnar how about puddings? Same thing? Because you can make green puddings

You can get green powders in stores for a pretty penny. Not as good and taste very... "green," but you can add them to your regular food, although they're best in plain water.

[Ragnar]

No. I CAN eat puddings. So long as hey have no sugar.

"Green puddings", must look that up and see what I can find.

[Crazy Healer Lady]

Do you have access to young thai coconuts! AMAZING things. Blend the coconut meat up with a small portion of the water, 1-3 soft dates, a handful of greens, and 1tsp cacao or cocoa. HEAVEN.

Barring that, you could blend up 2 bananas and a handful of spinach. I think I said this already, but biologically our diet is supposed to be a good majority leafy green. I can't believe the stuff I see when people start eating more green. One lady even grew her natural hair colour back rather than grey.

[Kitsune]

You'll all have to excuse me, but I'm stealing the spotlight for a moment.

I lost over 6lbs last week!

I'll admit that I'm completely stoked about it, even though I know that I'll probably gain some of that back in the next week or so. All this from controlling what I eat, eating a bit healthier when I do and making simple changes like trying to take the stairs more often.

Maybe not tons, but I know that I certainly feel absolutely awesome about it.

Especially since I'm still at a very reasonable amount of calories so it's almost as like I'm not dieting. Though I will admit... I would kill for a piece of cake with icing!

[Ragnar]

Well done Lass.

I probably put abouit 5 kilo ON over the weekend, with pig roast ands czech beer, but.....