Food Question
 

This is a question for our resident nutrition experts (i.e., amber).

I decided that I'm going to start eating more fruits and vegetables and less red meat in an endeavor to help me lose weight and feel healthier. So, the first day of this (last week), I ate a yogurt, blueberry, whole grain cereal concoction for breakfast, then I made a tomato sandwich for lunch, which I ate at about 11am.

By 2pm, I was about ready to pass out. I made it to 5:30, when I hightailed it to Wendy's and had one of their double-meat cheeseburger value meals. :(

So, the next day I decided to pack a couple of things. I made an eggplant burger, and then a bagel sandwich with various veggies on it (romaine lettuce, tomato, bell pepper, etc.) but no meat. I ate the eggplant burger at about 11am (my regular lunch time) and the veggie sandwich at about 2pm. But by 5pm, I was starving again and ended up having McDonald's as soon as I got off work.

What's up with this? Do I just need to get used to being hungry all the time, or am I not doing something right?

it sounds like you're eating way too much sugar and carbs, and not enough protein. :shrug: protein will give you long-lasting energy & satiety. what i do is pair a carb with a protein for my meals. for lunch today, i had cheese & crackers and blueberries. also, i eat about 300 calories every 3-4 hours, which has given me a ton more energy than eating fewer, larger meals. do you exercise? while you're at work, try snacking on protein, like nuts. i always take a little bag of almonds with me to work, or cheese & crackers.

I was thinking that maybe I wasn't getting enough protein, since I was craving things like meat and peanut butter. I thought about taking some peanut butter and crackers to snack on, or putting some tuna on the veggie bagel sandwich.

As for exercise, well...I'm starting to. :D

peanut butter is great! i forgot to mention it. i do that with crackers, too. go for the all-natural stuff - the oil in it is much better for you than what's in jif or skippy, and it doesn't have any sugar added. tuna is also great because it's so lean. sometimes i get those heat-and-serve tuna steaks from the grocery store - you just nuke 'em and they're ready to go. the only downside is they're high in sodium, so i don't eat them very often.

the hardest part about exercising is starting, i think. once you get into a regimen, it becomes much easier & more enjoyable. good luck! :thumbsup:

Im no nutritionist, but I personally believe that if you eat the healthy meals that you are eating, and have healthy snacks when you get the urge to eat (i.e. peanuts, dried fruit etc...) that should tide you over until the next big meal :)

Carrie's right. Eat more protein. Take hardboiled eggs with you, take tuna, take chicken breasts, steak, etc. Cook stuff the night before & take it with you the following morning. Cook steak, cook chicken, cook pasta & marinara, cook shepherd's pie, etc., & take it with you to work.

Your plan to lose weight long term will be for naught if you don't start working out. And when you're working out, you need more protein & you need complex carbs instead of simple sugars. Drink a gallon of water every day--not all at once but throughout the day.

Don't go to Wendy's or McDonald's. There is practically nothing your body needs there. If you want a fast-food run, you're better off going to Baja Fresh for a Baja burrito or a tri-tip salad.

Don't starve yourself. Dieting doesn't get rid of body fat; it gets rid of water. Eating good food & working out gets rid of fat via your increased metabolism. It's your very own metabolism--not some stupid frozen food in a diet box--that gets rid of your fat.

So are peanut butter crackers a good snack to have?? I bring them to work with me and I think they are great, but I wasn't sure if they were ok to have.

If you like them, they're good, I guess.

Personally, I don't like the taste of peanut butter, so I don't go for peanut butter-flavored stuff. I prefer the flavor of white chocolate, which isn't chocolate at all. I also like cilantro in everything.

yikes, really? cilantro makes me ill.

How terrible!

Yes, I love cilantro. I especially love it in soups, especially albondigas soup, chicken soup & minestrone soup. Plus I love it in sandwiches & in roasts. I like to nibble on it raw.

I'm not even sure what cilantro is.

wow. i'm surprised - i've never known anyone who loved cilantro. learn something new every day! i'm very picky about mexican restaurants because cilantro is used so heavily in mexican cuisine.

cilantro is an herb ... its seed is called coriander. i think it has a terrible taste, but apparently david loves it!

EDIT: according to wikipedia's coriander page, dislike of cilantro may be genetic! interesting.

I too, love cilantro. I grow my own, and collect the coriander seed in the fall, with which to grow the next year's batch.
Cilantro MAKES for great salsa!:blob2:

Here's my take: during the four years I stayed home, I was able to eat healthy with absolutely no fast/junk food cravings whatsoever. But, then, as soon as I started working, I've been going to Subway, Burger King, McDonalds or eating chips almost every night! Maybe you're eating this way, because of stress? That's what I think mine is...

I will repeat this mantra to myself whenever I feel the craving. :) Thanks David!

I like it too and agree that it is great in salsa. :thumbsup:

:eek: crazy people. looks like i'm outnumbered!

:nod: I am SUCH the stress eater too.

But I find that if I can get over an initial craving period of fast food then I'm ok. I've not had fast food now in about three weeks!!! (ok - except Subway - but I get pretty healthy sandwiches and either baked/sun or no chips.).

It was murder at first - all I could think of when meal times came around was cheeseburgers and fries - those have always been a huge weakness of mine. But now I'm not craving those things and have really been enjoying cooking my own food :)

I HATE cilantro-heavy salsa. HAAAATE. I'm with Carrie, cilantro tastes like ass! :laugh:

I don't care much for it, either, but have gotten used to it because I'm such a salsa hound.

Markolas - everyone is right. Also, you will be more full longer if you eat veggies that have more fiber than the ones you have been eating. Broccoli is really filling (dip it in ranch?). And just more veggies. Carrots are good and easy, sliced bell peppers, cucumber... have a big ass salad with a bunch of veggies in it.
But all that yogurt, fruit, bread, cereal stuff is a killer. And especially the bagel - bagels are very carb dense, but it is simple carbs. There is nothing wrong with those food items in themselves (except perhaps the bagel) but like everyone said, you can't just eat those simple carbs and expect to be full for a long time - in fact what you can expect is that your blood sugar will crash, and suddenly you'll be starving your ass off and wanting a burger. So eat lots of veggies, nuts, etc. - and some lean meats - and eat often.

Here's a good sandwich I like to make, for example - and you can put cheese on it, or meat, but that isn't the important part. Whole grain bread, then mustard/mayo/whatever you like. If you can stand to, you can substitute things for the mayo, like avacado/guac, or hummus. Then mixed greens for the lettuce, sliced tomato, sliced cucumber, sprouts, and finely chopped pepperoncinis - and avacado slices if you like them. With pepperjack cheese it makes an awesome tasty filling sandwich, but you could have it totally vegetarian. It's like your eggplant sandwich, but super delicious. :laugh:

You will feel fine if you eat well and often, small amounts. Snacking is very good for you provided they are the right snacks.

I'm on your side...hate it.

Okay, everyone is ragging on me about the bread, but I never eat white bread. It was a whole wheat bagel! As for veggies...I kinda have to force myself to eat them. I love, love, love fruit. I'll eat veggies, but I can't say that I enjoy doing so. I can tolerate a small salad, but I can't do the big ones...I'll just get sick of eating it after a few minutes and end up throwing the rest out. I do like broccoli, though. As for the eating often thing...how often am I supposed to eat? I sit and answer phones all day in front of a computer. I can get away with some snacking at my desk, but I can't be constantly getting up to fix something to eat every two hours.

Today, I had some chicken and a small salad, and snacked on some almonds and peanut butter & crackers later. And I didn't have the problem that I was having last week, which leads me to think I really wasn't eating enough protein. I came home and had a cucumber sandwich.

What are pepperoncinis? And I've never had avacado. I don't think they eat them in the South. :lol:

Well, that was just an experiment. Because I do like eggplant parmesan. But eggplant burgers? No. I won't be having that again. :(

wheat bread is good, but it's still not protein. and since you had a bagel, it's still going to be higher in carbs than normal wheat bread because bagels are so dense. anyway, i'm not saying it'a bad, i'm just saying if you pair it with protein, you won't get fatigued. you've never had avocado?! :eek: so that means you've never had guacamole? damn. a life without guac ... i can't imagine it! ;) as for how often to eat... i eat every three to four hours, about 300 calories a pop. how long are your shifts at work? do you get a lunch break? i usually eat twice while i'm at work, and since they're smaller meals, it really doesn't take away from doing my job.

I TOTALLY pigged out on it on Sunday night. It was a huge portion of it and I was waiting at a Mexican rest. for my friends. Sunday is my free day and it was orgasmic!

yummmmmmmm!!! i totally pigged out on it today, actually! y'know, i think i should start doing a "free day" thing ... because i keep finding myself sneaking treats in once or twice a day ... i think it would be better just to relegate it to one day. did you do it while you were seriously dieting or ... ?

I think I mentioned this, but here it is again. Since Nov. of last year, I have gone from about 280 to 200-210 (I am 6'4" and large framed - so, ten pounds is no biggie on me) -- I will NEVER again be at the weight I was in those recently posted Vegas pics. I thought I looked okay in them, but when I was there, I remember being horrified at how nothing fit me correctly - and I was only probably about around 250 in those pics. My waist has gone from about a 40 to a 32. I want to maintain that. So, during the week, I am very watchful of what I eat - but sometimes I splurge at other times, like today I had for lunch a grilled chicken Caesar salad and I let myself have two dressings instead of none - like I usually do. I find that if I deny myself all of the time or for more than one week, I fal off the wagon for a week.

So, when my free days come once a week, I usually go for popcorn and milk duds at the movies and then a large, fattening, fabulous dinner!!!!!!!!

I think it's so cool that you lost that much weight. i have to lose about 10 pounds more than you did to get to a healthy BMI (i'm 227 and 5'3", there, i said it. ****), so it's really encouraging to know someone else who was able to do it. i've been eating between 1500 and 1800 calories a day and going to the gym every day, so i think i'm doing okay. i think i'll definitely start giving myself a free day and see if that helps me resist temptation, as it were, the other 6 days of the week.

The free day thing is a great idea - they have that in Weight Watchers if I remember correctly.

And no, bread is not the devil, Markolas. I'm sick of all the bread hate - if you get a good and non-white bread it can be a very beneficial part of your diet. And bagels are NOT bad - just don't eat the whole thing - half a bagel with light cream cheese can be a very healthy thing.

I've decided that I'm probably never going to lose my weight on my own. I'm going to join Weight Watchers. I was a member back in 1997 or 98 and lost 25 pounds doing it - but then cast aside all I'd learned and stopped going to meetings - it's time to join back up I believe - because doing it by myself sure as hell isn't working.

I'm the biggest right now that I've ever been in my life - I miss looking cute in my clothes and not jiggling when I walk....so that's what I've decided..WW it is :thumbsup:

I dropped my 80 or so in about six months - which is scary to most people. But, I know my body and once I got on the program, I was on it. I also had a nutritionist, which helped. Compare these two pics - the first of from Vegas in August and the second I took on my phone cam about two weeks ago - so it is not that great - but it is the most recent one I have LOL.

Vegas - THANKS XXXMS for the pic

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...nd/vegas24.jpg

and now

http://us.f397.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Sho...a&head=b&Idx=3

the second one doesn't show up :shrug: the first one is hot stuff, tho! :D

Let me try again - when I click on that link, it works though.

http://us.f397.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Sho...a&head=b&Idx=3

is it in an attachment to an email? that might be why i can't see it and you can.

it saves to my computer as a BIN file and photobucket will not open it DAMNIT!!!!!

I such a computer moron!

VOILA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...wind/jason.gif

hey there hottie!! very svelte. :thumbsup:

I was a little hung in that pic and making a bad/mad face to send to a friend who was working my last nerve!!!!!

I was a little scared I would look worse when I took it off my phone. But, not too bad or road hard and put up wet - and for 39 1/2 :shrug:

You've always hated me.

I love cilantro too....:thumbsup:

were you at the airport?

Yes, I was - and I was waaaaayyyyy over it LOL