Shrinking Violets -- April 07 Bandsters

[Ms Jen 1]

Thanks for sharing that Kity. I had my first PB yesterday. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but it does teach a lesson.

Eating in the car is a thing of my past. That was one of my worst habits. For me there's really no reason for it other than eating in privacy so that no one can see how much I really eat.

Does anyone else have to loose that part of them?

I could really use some help with that struggle.

Yep! That's a bad habit I also have to break too! But it's easy right now for me since I'm still doing mushies. Now when I'm hungry on the go I just stop and get some egg drop Soup take a few sips and I'm on my way with some for later. Since I can't eat fast food anymore I just try to eat my meals at home.

[Daisalana 33]

It isn't any wonder America is so fat now. I dieted on and off forever, and to me, I thought the chili would be a LOT better than their burgers. But after looking through their nutrition.. (I also had gotten a strawberry yogurt milkshake.. which was 500 calories, so after 3 sips that was trashed too).. So here I was, THINKING I was doing good.. a chili instead of burger, and a yogurt milkshake.. if I had actually eaten it, that would have been about 1,400 calories. 200 more calories than I strive to eat each day.. in one meal.. DIETING. If I wasn't dieting and didn't think to look it up, I could have easily eaten 1,000's of calories from there in one sitting. Sheesh. Their jack cheddar melt is 1,300 calories. I don't know what their fries are, but a normal person at steak-n-shake gets their meal.. a burger, fries, and coke or shake (I'd guess more shakes since it is their name), and spend 2,000 calories in one sitting. I blame society darn it!!!!! Now I'm paranoid. Someone at work said this place down the road has amazing Soups, I was going to get some to go but now I need to find their nutritional info online before I buy again. The big picture is a sad one. If you don't have time to cook (me), or can't cook (me again), the options are horrible.. HORRIBLE! My fiance still eats like I use to, because he's not doing my 'diet', and so he gets a couple meals from McDonalds or TacoBell on his way home, eats them all to himself, and I can only imagine how many calories that is. Where's the healthy fast food? ? Even the 'healthy' choices from these places are bad. But people buy into it.

[Daisalana 33]

Oh, and since I decided to go off on a rant..

I have this website that has most places I've ever eaten, most of their menu and the nutritional info for the stuff. It's been a great help

http://www.dietfacts.com/

I went to McAlister's (The place I was talking about getting soups), no nutritional info available, so I went to dietfacts.com and they have this for them:

McAlister's Deli®

(Nutrition Information is<!--s--> not available)

We have attempted to collect nutrition information for this restaurant and received the following reply:

"Thank you for taking time out of your day to contact us. At present, we do not have nutritional data for our menu items. However, we are keenly aware of customer interest in this information and it is a project we are working on. We hope to have the information within the next 12-18 months. As soon as the data is available we will post it both in our restaurants and on our website.

Thank you for your patronage!

Sincerely,

McAlister's Corporation"

--

So that makes me weary enough not to try it out till I get info!!

[mdrai 3]

Hi Laura --

You are so young still... you have time to learn to cook well & healthfully! What fun! It really can be a joy to cook tasty, nutritious meals... and it's definitely cheaper than eating out! The time issue can be remedied in a couple ways... cook a bunch over a weekend & freeze for future use (just pull out what you want in the a.m., stick it on the counter to thaw, and re-heat in 30-mins or less!)... go to the library & check out one of Rachel Ray's "30-minute meals" books... or see if they have one of those "prep kitchens" in your area, like Let's Dish! or My Girlfriend's Kitchen, Super Suppers, Dream Dinners (there are lots out there) -- I LOVE LD!... you go and you put together your meals and then take them home & freeze them (uncooked), then when you want them, you just pull 'em out, defrost, and cook (usually in under 30 mins). The food there is REAL, and nutritious (all the info is on their sites + WW points)... lots of variety each month -- American, Italian, Mexican, Mediterranean, Oriental...mmmmmmmmmm. The menus change each month.

There's no excuse for not eating healthfully... for both yourself & dbf. You guys are so lucky to be just starting out... you have the ability to create healthy living choices now before you're old farts like me & dh & stuck in our ruts. I envy you the freedom of being 23! "If I knew then what I know now..." OMG, I sound like a decrepit 100 year old! Ack! But it's true...

[Haydee 2]

It isn't any wonder America is so fat now......... Even the 'healthy' choices from these places are bad. But people buy into it.

I completely agree. Fast food and dining out have become a staple in our diets instead of special occassion food like it was for our parents or grandparents. For many years having a home cooked meal at my house was a special occassion. And I wonder how I got fat...:doh: I always knew that the food at the restaurants was high in fat and calories but I was always the type to eat what I damn well please and when I damn well please. This is all tied in to my personality by the way... Our weight issues usually are.

[TerriDoodle 6]

Yes, I got the same type of reply when i asked Jason's Deli for their info. I think it should be a RIGHT to know what we're putting in our bodies and the restaurants should be compelled to provide the info. Wonder if there's any legislation out there now? Seems like there should be.

We're having a board meeting in our office for the next two days....which, for me, spells T-R-O-U-B-L-E. Wonderful, rich buffets for bkfst and lunch and Cookies set out all other times. Being in bandster hell I am hungry just about all the time and have already blown it today. Two kolaches. I'm not feeling well either (sore throad & allergies) and am tied to my desk while all this food is about 15 ft. away from me at all times. #%*@!!!!!

[Ms Jen 1]

The big picture is a sad one. If you don't have time to cook (me), or can't cook (me again), the options are horrible.. HORRIBLE! quote]

Laura, do you have a friend that likes to cook? If so, ask her/him to make so band friendly meals for you and freeze them in serving size containers.

I love to cook and so before being banded, I made my chicken broth and put it in 2 cup containers, put the chicken in 4 0z containers and but it all in the freezer. Now that I'm on mushies I cooked my string Beans and boil my potato in the broth.

Here's a recipe for good chicken Soup.< /p>

3 lbs chicken backs (they add more flavor) Or whole chicken

1 leek sliced thin

5 carrots sliced

3 stalks of cellery diced

1 onion diced

3-4 cloves garlic

Put it all in a large pot and cover with Water and simmer for about a hour. let it sit for a 15 min and skim the fat off the top. Then add:

2-3 potatoes cut up

1/2 bunch of fresh parsley cut up

season to taste (salt, pepper, Ms Dash more garlic powder, 1-2 bay leaf, 1/8 teaspoon thyme what ever seasonings you have on hand)

Bring to a boil then turn the heat off. Take the chicken out and freeze until you can have meat.< /p>

You can either eat or strain the broth depending on which stage you're doing. Freeze in small containers what you can't eat in a few days.

When you can start eating solid foods, take out some of the chicken and add a can of cream of chicken to it, a little broth some mushrooms, season to taste a serve over brown rice, Pasta, or mashed potatoes. Have some veggies on the side and there is your lunch/dinner.

OR you can just cook some frozen veggies in the broth and buy a cooked chicken for Cosco/Sam's or your local deli.

LA weight loss has a cook book for cooking for 1 PM me with your address and I can mail you copies of the VERY EASY recipes you can make in less that 1/2 hour and they are tasty. :hungry:

Jennifer

[Daisalana 33]

See, I thought there was a legislature that REQUIRED restaurants to make their nutritional info available. And from their website McAlister's is a nation-wide chain, so I am confused why they don't have it listed. You'd think if it wasn't by law, many fast food places wouldn't be listing it.. but this is the first place I've come across that did not publish their info on their website. It's in NY I believe they have banned trans fat, so McAlister's in NY I would think HAS to publish what is in it, since trans fat is illegal there. Hrm.. good query.

About office food.. I'm there with you. Luckily, since they're all size 0's I never felt comfortable eating it anyway, so nothing's changed.. but the girls bring in a couple cakes, or boxes of donuts/danishes/etc.. in the break area by the coffee pot. I have asked the boss to put better stuff in the vending machines (The 'real' food vendor, has only burgers, burritos, 'grilled' sandwhiches that when you heat them up are a big ball of grease) not for health reasons, but because normally at work I don't want anything rich, I don't like getting out in traffic to go find food, I'm not a big fan of chips/candies for a meal, and as I said, the 'real' food machine has crap. He said he's been asked before, but they can't swing it right now.

As for me learning to cook.. I don't have the time. It's not an 'excuse', it's just the way it is. Back in Atkins days, I tried the 'cook big, freeze, reheat', and I botch that too. It's never good the first time around, when I reheat it, it's junk and I end up buying food out. I don't have extravagent tastes. I hate rosemary.. I don't like chicken.. I don't like pork.. I'm not a lemon-pepper xxx eater, I don't eat fish.. All the recipes I ever find are for something I wouldn't like, and involve way too many ingredients. My granny (yes-granny!) is an old-school southern housewife. She is long retired, but is a 'maid' of sorts for all my family. They pay her to clean her house and cook them dinners (we're all workers with long hours). I hope to make enough $$ to hire her for myself one day.. She cooks a lot of good ol' southern style food.. very bad for you. But in the past couple of years her diabetes really hit her, so she became healthy in her home. She LOVES LOVES to cook, and new recipes, etc. I've told her recently I need her to find some recipes that I could easily make (crock pot is good for me), and are healthy. She apparently recently got some ultimate Soup recipe book, and has been trying them out for me. She knows my tastes, and when she finds something she knows I would make and eat she's going to let me know. But I'm really a pain in the butt when it comes to food. If it's not fried and served with mashed potatos and butter, I get cranky LOL. I don't like anything they would list on TV. I like mac-n-cheese, meatloaf, pasta-roni, Soups, sandwhiches.. things like that. If it's 'au' something, or like i said 'lemon-pepper xxx' or 'rosemary & thyme xxx' I'm not eating it!

[ShirleyBee 0]

Please add me to the April Bandster list. I was banded on April 14th. You all seem so nice and good at sharing important info.

[Daisalana 33]

BTW.. I know I'm a pain in the butt. Just be glad you weren't my parents or DBF

[Teachlady 3]

Please add me to the April Bandster list. I was banded on April 14th. You all seem so nice and good at sharing important info.

Hey ShirleyBee... welcome!! This is a great place to be so pull up a chair and join all of us Shrink'n Violets!!

[Ms Jen 1]

BTW.. I know I'm a pain in the butt. Just be glad you weren't my parents or DBF :girl_hug:

Don't know what to say. I guess I can't help. You should be thin in no time (:girl_hug: )

[Daisalana 33]

LOL from starvation? :rolleyes

I appreciate the help and am interested in recipe stuff, I just want normal recipes. Recipes for people who don't own a spice rack.. recipe for people who don't go to organic stores with weird named foods. Recipe for people who don't know how to take apart garlic. For example, one thing I use to make a lot on Atkins.. was a cheese Soup. Cook cream & shredder cheddar cheese in a saucepot, add salt & pepper, and sprinkle with bacon crumbs (found conveniently in those lil' bacon bits jars). That's how simple my cooking style is.

[Teachlady 3]

I just finished my 1/2 can of Soup at Hand Velvety Potato soup. I added some parsley, dill, garlic powder and pepper. YUMMY.... now on to my snack pack of lo fat chocolate pudding. That will fill me up til supper. I'm loving this band!!!

[Daisalana 33]

Ooo the campbell's velvety potato Soup IS AWESOME. On my pre-op diet, I had the liquid out of it for lunch most days.