Food n Fitness Thread #9837483

[skcin]

Originally Posted by AliceLover

I am starting the third week in the couch to 5k tonight. I'm a little nervous because this one seems a bit tougher than the last 2 weeks, but I know I can do it.

But I need tips from you guys....

I am keeping up with my exercise, its just the fast food I am having trouble staying away from. Just really on the weekends with my friends though. I can't seem to shake some of the temptations and its hurting me. Another thing is Ive noticed that I have started drinking soda again because of my hectic schedule during the week. I just need that caffene rush. I really want to fix these problems. Can anyone offer any suggestions?

If you feel like you're totally giving something up, it makes it really difficult. I recommend substitutions & better choices instead of completely denying yourself certain foods. You're young & like hanging out with your friends, so IMO it's not realistic for you to completely give up fast food.

What do you usually buy from McD's or BK? Making better choices can help, and still not make you feel like you're missing out. Here are my suggestions - these are the kinds of things that I do:

Instead of a huge sandwich (Whopper, Big Mac, etc.) get a regular one (cheeseburger, junior deluxe whatever-it-is, etc.) If you really really really want a bigger sandwich, then skip the fries & get water instead of pop.

Instead of a large fry, get a small or substitute something else (a side salad with light dressing, Wendy's has baked potatoes, etc.)

Instead of a fried chicken sandwich, get a grilled one. If you like nuggets, get a 4 or 6 piece instead of the 9 or more & dip in BBQ sauce or honey as opposed to ranch.

Ask for extra lettuce & tomato on sandwiches. Skip mayo or "special sauce" type condiments. Ketchup is OK, mustard is even better.

If you get a salad, get light dressing & put it on the side to dip as opposed to pouring it on top - you'll use less. If there's meat on it, make sure it's grilled & not fried. Ditch cheese, croutons, bacon bits, etc. Sonme of these salads have so much crap on them, you may as well eat a Whopper & fries. Seriously.

Don't bother with extra dessert junk like those pies or ice cream - empty calories, no nutritional value, they don't keep you ful very long.

As far as breakfast items go, stick with sandwiches that have egg, cheese & maybe ham. Bacon & sausage are horrible calorie, fat & salt-wise. Hash browns are so-so, get a small. I wouldn't bother with the carby stuff (frennch toast sticks, pancakes, cinnamon rolls, etc.) They won't fill you up, and there's not protein or dairy - just carbs.



Pop. OK. I switched to diet a long time ago & I swear to you that after a few weeks, you will not notice the "aftertaste" that people complain about. As a matter of fact, refular pop starts tasting way too sweet - sickeningly sweet. Also - the flavor difference of diet clear pop (Sierra Mist, Sprite, etc.) isn't as noticeable as colas.

If you just can't do diet pop, Crystal Light type drinks are really good. Same with Diet Snapple. There's a light lemonade around (minute maid?) that's delicious. If you only want the caffiene, change to coffee. Hate the flavor? Dump some Splenda & light flavored creamer in it until it's good. Or go with tea, like Carrie & Jaz mentioned.




Jimmy - you're doing really well. Keep up the great work - you should be really proud of yourself! Making changes now while you're young is a hell of a lot better than waiting until you're older & lazier & more out of shape (like I did, lol.)

[skcin]

Originally Posted by sparky

I have this funky little computer niblet on the handlebars. It is hooked to a wire that runs to a dock on the front forks. There is a magnet mounted in the spokes that it reads as it goes around. It gives mph, miles ridden, and rpms. Pretty cool. It has a caloric readout too, but I don't think that particular reading can be trusted.

Sidenote - the handlebar screen probably isn't truly a niblet. It's more of a thingamajig. The magnet is a niblet.

You sure it's not a doohickey?


I'll have to look into that. I'm interested to know just how far/fast I go.

[JazmenFlowers]

Originally Posted by skcin

You sure it's not a doohickey?

or a doomaflatchee

[danax6]

Originally Posted by skcin

If you feel like you're totally giving something up, it makes it really difficult. I recommend substitutions & better choices instead of completely denying yourself certain foods.

That's what I've learned to do also. I love fast food, but it's not like I live nearby a ff-restaurant or hang out with people that visit it often, so it's easy for me to avoid it. My sister is a big fast food junkie though, so it pains me that when I do groceries I still have to stock up on that stuff and then later on know that it's in the freezer. Not easy to avoid it in that case, and then it all comes down to willpower. Which I suck at. But substitutions is really good advice, there's lots of snack food or even junk food that's available with a lot less calories and very tasty. Even if your friends do decide to stop over at McD's or anywhere else, there's always other food you can get if you really want something.

Pop. OK. I switched to diet a long time ago & I swear to you that after a few weeks, you will not notice the "aftertaste" that people complain about. As a matter of fact, refular pop starts tasting way too sweet - sickeningly sweet. Also - the flavor difference of diet clear pop (Sierra Mist, Sprite, etc.) isn't as noticeable as colas.

I personally never understood where people got the idea of that 'aftertaste' from. I've always preferred Diet Coke over regular one. But the strangest thing happened about a year ago... I suddenly stopped drinking any soda. It's almost revolting to me now, and I had been drinking it ever since my childhood. Nothing happened really, one day I just thought it tasted gross, threw it out and never looked back. I've been drinking mineral water for about a year now. Occassionally some lemonade or juice that contains vitamine C or dairy products.

Do you guys have Coca Cola Zero? There's supposed to be NO sugar in that, but still tastes the same as regular coke, or so they say.

[JazmenFlowers]

Originally Posted by danax6

Do you guys have Coca Cola Zero? There's supposed to be NO sugar in that, but still tastes the same as regular coke, or so they say.

tastes more like a flat Coke to me. I can't stand it.

[sparky]

Originally Posted by skcin

You sure it's not a doohickey?

Definitely. I thought for a minute it might be a hoo-ha, or even a nick-nack of some sort. But the mechanical aspect lands it squarely in thingamajig territory.

[AliceLover]

Originally Posted by skcin

If you feel like you're totally giving something up, it makes it really difficult. I recommend substitutions & better choices instead of completely denying yourself certain foods. You're young & like hanging out with your friends, so IMO it's not realistic for you to completely give up fast food.

What do you usually buy from McD's or BK? Making better choices can help, and still not make you feel like you're missing out. Here are my suggestions - these are the kinds of things that I do:

Instead of a huge sandwich (Whopper, Big Mac, etc.) get a regular one (cheeseburger, junior deluxe whatever-it-is, etc.) If you really really really want a bigger sandwich, then skip the fries & get water instead of pop.

Instead of a large fry, get a small or substitute something else (a side salad with light dressing, Wendy's has baked potatoes, etc.)

Instead of a fried chicken sandwich, get a grilled one. If you like nuggets, get a 4 or 6 piece instead of the 9 or more & dip in BBQ sauce or honey as opposed to ranch.

Ask for extra lettuce & tomato on sandwiches. Skip mayo or "special sauce" type condiments. Ketchup is OK, mustard is even better.

If you get a salad, get light dressing & put it on the side to dip as opposed to pouring it on top - you'll use less. If there's meat on it, make sure it's grilled & not fried. Ditch cheese, croutons, bacon bits, etc. Sonme of these salads have so much crap on them, you may as well eat a Whopper & fries. Seriously.

Don't bother with extra dessert junk like those pies or ice cream - empty calories, no nutritional value, they don't keep you ful very long.

As far as breakfast items go, stick with sandwiches that have egg, cheese & maybe ham. Bacon & sausage are horrible calorie, fat & salt-wise. Hash browns are so-so, get a small. I wouldn't bother with the carby stuff (frennch toast sticks, pancakes, cinnamon rolls, etc.) They won't fill you up, and there's not protein or dairy - just carbs.



Pop. OK. I switched to diet a long time ago & I swear to you that after a few weeks, you will not notice the "aftertaste" that people complain about. As a matter of fact, refular pop starts tasting way too sweet - sickeningly sweet. Also - the flavor difference of diet clear pop (Sierra Mist, Sprite, etc.) isn't as noticeable as colas.

If you just can't do diet pop, Crystal Light type drinks are really good. Same with Diet Snapple. There's a light lemonade around (minute maid?) that's delicious. If you only want the caffiene, change to coffee. Hate the flavor? Dump some Splenda & light flavored creamer in it until it's good. Or go with tea, like Carrie & Jaz mentioned.




Jimmy - you're doing really well. Keep up the great work - you should be really proud of yourself! Making changes now while you're young is a hell of a lot better than waiting until you're older & lazier & more out of shape (like I did, lol.)

Hey Paula,

Thanks for writing that all out. Im gunna be brutally honest about my fast food, just so I can figure out how to fix it. My big problem used to be Wendy's. Me and my friends used to go there every weekend. Id get the grilled chicken sandwich with fries, coke, and nugs, but I haven't been in about a month, so I'm ok with that.

My mom will bring home McDonalds for dinner a lot because my sister usually gets it after soccer. She ONLY gets double hamburgers no fries or anything else. I'll usually have 3. These two things above I think I can totally GIVE UP, because they aren't too important.

NOW...what kills me....CHINESE FOOD. There is a chain in our mall called Master Wok and it is my passion. I always get pork fried rice, barbeque chicken, and another type of chicken. I eat this alot and I really need to cut back on this.

Another thing I feel guilty about eating is Ice Cream. How bad is that for you? Of course my personal favorite flavor of coffee.

As I'm writing all this out I am thinking that this isn't TOO bad about giving up. I can see myself giving up all these foods. I think that soda is a bigger problem for me. I just absolutely love regular coke. Its my favorite drink. This one is going to be a tough one. Sorry folks, the coke substitues just DON'T do it for me. One drink that has been helping me get through this though is Propel fitness water...I love that stuff.

Today, I printed out a calendar of May at work and starting tomorrow I am cutting out all fast food and soda until I finish my couch to 5k program. I feel that if I can come home for a few days and X out the day's I will feel al ot more modivated. Im hoping this stretch will help me break some of my bad habits.

For the past 2 weeks I have been eating for lunch Apple, 3 slices of water melon, 2 ham sandwiches with mustard, and a propel. That keeps me tidied over until dinner. I also love those Smart ones dinners, they are so tasty.

So yeah, thanks for listening.

Oooh one more thing...How bad is 10 beers going to be for my diet?

[JazmenFlowers]

^^^
Jimmy, I hear ya on all that. I love Asian food of any kind. I'm not really an ice cream person, but I know how hard it is to give up something you love. what I did to help myself get through giving up foods I loved was to allow myself one coke at lunch each day and I allowed myself my favorite food once a week until I got to the point where I was able to cut it out all together. now that I've gotten close to my goal, once I reach it, I'll start working my favorite things back in once in a while. I don't see myself drinking Cokes again just because I don't really care about not drinking them anymore and I enjoy Diet Mountain Dew just as much or more. and I probably won't go back to fast food just cause I know how bad all that **** is, but I will go back to eating Asian food now and then.

it's all in what works for you to get to where you want to be. if you are honest with yourself and can't cut out something completely, then don't...you'll only relapse. just cut back as much as you can.

[sparky]

Originally Posted by AliceLover

Oooh one more thing...How bad is 10 beers going to be for my diet?

Well Paula is the official beer whore but I have found something great:

Beck's Premium Light beer. 64 calories a bottle. 10 of those puppies is like 2 margaritas, or one Big Grab bag of Doritos, or about 1/3 an order of fries.

Gotta love that!

[SuzeQuze]

Originally Posted by danax6

I personally never understood where people got the idea of that 'aftertaste' from. I've always preferred Diet Coke over regular one. But the strangest thing happened about a year ago... I suddenly stopped drinking any soda. It's almost revolting to me now, and I had been drinking it ever since my childhood. Nothing happened really, one day I just thought it tasted gross, threw it out and never looked back. I've been drinking mineral water for about a year now. Occassionally some lemonade or juice that contains vitamine C or dairy products.

It used to have an aftertaste when it was sweetened with saccharine but it really doesn't anymore! I stopped drinking soda too because there are just so many chemicals in it. I will have a diet soda or even a regular soda occasionally though.

[JazmenFlowers]

Originally Posted by sparky

Doritos

quite possibly my favorite food ever.

Originally Posted by SuzeQuze

I will have a diet soda or even a regular soda occasionally though.

me too. although I must have the carbonated version with ice. any other way and it's just to syrupy. the only sodas I drink are Diet Mountain Dew, Diet Sunkist or Fresca.

[GypsySorcerer]

Originally Posted by AliceLover

As I'm writing all this out I am thinking that this isn't TOO bad about giving up. I can see myself giving up all these foods. I think that soda is a bigger problem for me. I just absolutely love regular coke. Its my favorite drink. This one is going to be a tough one. Sorry folks, the coke substitues just DON'T do it for me. One drink that has been helping me get through this though is Propel fitness water...I love that stuff.

I've drunk diet soda for years. Actually, I rarely drank any soda at all until high school, and then I started drinking diet. So I never had to do the "big switch."

I've had friends who have lost significant amounts of weight (50 pounds or more) and they allowed themselves one, maybe two, cans of regular soda during the day, and drank water the rest of the time.

[skcin]

Originally Posted by AliceLover

Hey Paula,

Thanks for writing that all out. Im gunna be brutally honest about my fast food, just so I can figure out how to fix it. My big problem used to be Wendy's. Me and my friends used to go there every weekend. Id get the grilled chicken sandwich with fries, coke, and nugs, but I haven't been in about a month, so I'm ok with that.

My mom will bring home McDonalds for dinner a lot because my sister usually gets it after soccer. She ONLY gets double hamburgers no fries or anything else. I'll usually have 3. These two things above I think I can totally GIVE UP, because they aren't too important.

NOW...what kills me....CHINESE FOOD. There is a chain in our mall called Master Wok and it is my passion. I always get pork fried rice, barbeque chicken, and another type of chicken. I eat this alot and I really need to cut back on this.

Another thing I feel guilty about eating is Ice Cream. How bad is that for you? Of course my personal favorite flavor of coffee.

As I'm writing all this out I am thinking that this isn't TOO bad about giving up. I can see myself giving up all these foods. I think that soda is a bigger problem for me. I just absolutely love regular coke. Its my favorite drink. This one is going to be a tough one. Sorry folks, the coke substitues just DON'T do it for me. One drink that has been helping me get through this though is Propel fitness water...I love that stuff.

Today, I printed out a calendar of May at work and starting tomorrow I am cutting out all fast food and soda until I finish my couch to 5k program. I feel that if I can come home for a few days and X out the day's I will feel al ot more modivated. Im hoping this stretch will help me break some of my bad habits.

For the past 2 weeks I have been eating for lunch Apple, 3 slices of water melon, 2 ham sandwiches with mustard, and a propel. That keeps me tidied over until dinner. I also love those Smart ones dinners, they are so tasty.

So yeah, thanks for listening.

Oooh one more thing...How bad is 10 beers going to be for my diet?

Jimmy -You're very welcome! That's what this thread is for - sharing tips & secrets for success & also letting people know from personal experience what has & hasn't worked for you. Admitting to yourself exactly what you eat & how much of it is a huge step toward getting control of your diet. I was in a rut a few months ago & Theresa sent me some great tips. They were geared toard WW members, but most of it applies to anyone. The biggest thing was writing down what you eat, at least for a few weeks. I started doing that & starting shedding the pounds again.

Looks like your portions could be a problem, although you ARE a growing boy so you don't want to cut back too much, lol. Can you try & cut it down to 2 burgers? Also, limit the Chinese food to once a week? Ice cream is pretty bad, which breaks my heart because I love it. You can either switch to a lowfat frozen yogurt, or to a "no sugar added" or light ice cream - I believe I've seen coffee flavors in these types.

For lunch, the fruit is good, but perhaps change it up once in a while - a banana, orange, kiwi, or berries instead of the melon? Do you like raw veggies? Baby carrots or cukes in low fat dip is delish. Are you having your sandwich on white bread? No fiber, little nutritional value - whole wheat is the best, but most "light" breads have more fiber added to them too, and they make those in white, Italian, rye, etc.

How many Coke's do you drink per day? If you've been drinking 2 or 3, cut down to 1 & like Jaz said, that 1 can be your daily treat. And I know you said NO fake Coke, but have you tried the Coke Zero? I have heard good things.

Originally Posted by sparky

Well Paula is the official beer whore but I have found something great:

Beck's Premium Light beer. 64 calories a bottle. 10 of those puppies is like 2 margaritas, or one Big Grab bag of Doritos, or about 1/3 an order of fries.

Gotta love that!

I've had it. It's pretty good, but I rarely buy it. Cuz I'm cheap. Mike's is now making a fantastic Light Hard Lemonade 75 cals, I believe.

Low carb-type beers (Michelob Ultra, Labatt Select) are better diet-wise because they're lower in calories than other beers. But to me, they are very watery & I end up drinking a lot more. And then I get sick.

Light beers with the fewest calories are Genesee Light (heehee) and Miller Light - they both have around 95. Coors light, Bud light & Labatt Blue light are all around 110. F*cking Michelob light is like 130 - only a few less than regular. I consider it false advertising.


Just to give you an idea, a comparison with WW points:

3 regular beers = 9 points
3 light beers = 6 points
3 LIght Hard lemonades = 5 points
3 Beck's Light = 4 points

[skcin]

Originally Posted by GypsySorcerer

I've drunk diet soda for years. Actually, I rarely drank any soda at all until high school, and then I started drinking diet. So I never had to do the "big switch."

Me neither. Can't recall ever being a real pop/soda drinker until high school, and I went straight to diet. I honestly prefer the taste so much better.

People laugh when you go to McD's & get a burger & fries & a DIET soda. But really, I think if you can save 150 calories, why the hell not? Every little bit helps.

[GypsySorcerer]

Originally Posted by skcin

People laugh when you go to McD's & get a burger & fries & a DIET soda. But really, I think if you can save 150 calories, why the hell not? Every little bit helps.

You're my kind of woman. A small fry has about 250 calories, and I'd much rather have them than two cups of regular soda. I'd rather eat my calories than drink them (unless it's alcohol.)