Starvation, when you transfer your addiction from eating to losing weight

[winklie 518]

I said I would update you all, so here is an update.

I had a Protein shake this am.

I skipped lunch (was going to have tuna salad but was out)

Had a bowl of Chili for dinner, I even allowed myself a couple of crackers.

I'll have my daily yogurt tonight for a snack.< /p>

Meal planning is a work in progress.

So things are getting better.

[reree6898 1,164]

I said I would update you all, so here is an update.

I had a Protein shake this am.

I skipped lunch (was going to have tuna salad but was out)

Had a bowl of Chili for dinner, I even allowed myself a couple of crackers.

I'll have my daily yogurt tonight for a snack.< /p>

Meal planning is a work in progress.

So things are getting better.

Good, glad to hear you had a better day.

[winklie 518]

@@reree6898

It was, my big hurdle now is coming up with meals to plan. I love my Chili, but do not plan on eating it every day for the next three weeks. I know there are a million sites with great recipes, but it is a little overwhelming getting started. I am also a really picky eater, and don't like (THANKS MOM) a lot of veggies.

[Daisee68 2,493]

@@winklie - Glad you updated us and gave us more background info. Sounds like you have a plan in place. If I could make one suggestion - about meal skipping (and I know the plan is new). But just to say I have to carry a Protein bar or some such with me to make sure I eat. You are early out, so this will come with time. I have all too often gone without because I didn't know what to eat. While you are planning, think of some things you can have with you with you will be out - tuna packets (as @@Dub as mentioned), beef Jerky (when you are able), Protein Bar, etc. I even found these individual packets of 1 TBSP of Barneys Almond Butter. Maybe not the absolutely best choice but it is satisfying, quick and a little bit of Protein.< /p>

Glad you have a psych team in your corner and will be working with them. Couldn't get through this without mine! Best wishes and let us know if you find some crazy good recipes! I am going to make @@beachgal2935 's Magic Crust Quiche this weekend! (I have been saying that for weeks but it is what is for Breakfast tomorrow!) And my most recent was a fix for my pizza craving that http://theworldaccordingtoeggface.com recently posted - which was a pizza Saute - sautéed veggies, add in some chicken and turkey pepperoni and olives and some pizza or low sugar marinara sauce and then some cheese on top quickly melted under the broiler. It was quick and VERY good. (I think @@beachgal2935 is the one that also has the chicken "crust" pizza you will find on here. Sounds great!)

[winklie 518]

@@Daisee68

Great post and ideas. It is overwhelming going from diet stage to stage. It really is.

Todays totals:

843 Calories, 13.8g Fat. 6g Fiber, 73.2g carbs, 970mg sodium, 114.1g Protein (YAY!!) 88 oz Water.

That I think for 6 weeks out was a pretty good day. Carbs are high but 40g are from the milk (skim) in my Protein shake, and my chili, so not much I can do about it. Now to see what the scale says tomorrow.... or do I smash it?

[reree6898 1,164]

@@reree6898

It was, my big hurdle now is coming up with meals to plan. I love my Chili, but do not plan on eating it every day for the next three weeks. I know there are a million sites with great recipes, but it is a little overwhelming getting started. I am also a really picky eater, and don't like (THANKS MOM) a lot of veggies.

There is a fellow on here who goes by the user name Smye who has a blog with tons of pretty easy and great looking recipes. Here is his blog, maybe you can find a few things there to try. http://barideliciousfood.blogspot.com/2015/05/welcome.html

[Daisee68 2,493]

@@winklie - Well done! Great job for 6 weeks out especially. I confess I don't always get all my fluids in and certainly not 88 oz.

It truly is overwhelming in the beginning. It does get less so as you move through the process.. You got this man! Keep up the great work!

And let me pass along a little advice my therapist gave me this week. She said "do you really realize what you have accomplished? Do you have any empathy for yourself?" I thought about it a lot. I mean I know in my head that 90 lbs is a lot but truly I sort of just credit the surgery. But this week, I have really tried to start realizing that I did this. I mean of course, I had the WLS tool that I couldn't have done this without (and my NUT and my therapist), but still I did this - not someone restricting my food. I restricted my food and made good choices and exercised. So, let me say - YOU DID THIS! You have lost 94 pounds! That is incredible! And YOU did it. Take that to heart. Don't be so hard on yourself. I mean don't use that as an excuse to make bad choices but let it make you stronger and more resolved. Remember you are not just losing weight (which is the diet mentality so many of us have after a lifetime of dieting for some of us); but you are getting healthy - physically and mentally. My biggest desire to get out of this is that food will not control me. I'm not there yet and I think I will always struggle a little because I am an addict, but I hope my struggles get less and less and I hope the same for you (and for all of us)!

[foodfighter78 258]

At only 8 weeks 800 + is very good, I'm between 800-1000 after 8 months

[winklie 518]

@@reree6898

Thank you! Great stuff!

[winklie 518]

@@Daisee68

It is SOOOOO hard for me to not be hard on myself. My life statement is "I will relentlessly pursue perfection in all things I do, with the hope of settling for mere excellence' I live that every day. No margin for error. It's part my illness, part military that I will never get rid of. Part testosterone, I am VERY hard on myself. I do not fail. And a stall felt like a fail. I could not figure it out. So I felt like I was failing, I have to learn to lighten up a bit, at least when it comes to weight loss. But that is a tall order after a life led the way I have led life. I have done things to myself to punish myself for what I saw as failure that nearly put me in the hospital. Funny thing, I am the sweetest Father you have ever met. I do not hold my kids to the same standards I hold myself too. Thank god. They both grew up wonderful women.

[beachgal2935 596]

@@winklie Sounds Awesome! Don't worry about the carbs when they're from healthy sources. You need a minimum of 50g per day for brain function alone! Here are a few of my favorite recipes where Protein is key, with pics and nutrition facts:

Premier Protein pudding Cups or Pops

2 cups Premier chocolate protein shakes
1 small pkg Jello sugar-free/fat-free instant pudding (dry mix)

Prepare pudding according to package directions replacing milk with chocolate Premier Protein shake. I prefer to use my NutriBullet. If using shaker, shake for 3 minutes or until thickened slightly. Pour into ½ cup containers for pudding cups. For frozen pops, pour into Jello pudding pop or any popsicle molds. Jello molds hold 1/3 cup each. Pudding cups set in 5 minutes and freezer pops in approx. 2-3 hours. Any flavor sugar-free fat-free pudding works, so get creative and enjoy!

Nutrition Facts – Pudding

Serving size: ½ cup

Calories 93

Fat 1g

Carbs 10g

Fiber 2g

Sugars 0g

Protein 12g

Serving Size: 1 Pop

Calories 62

Fat 1g

Carbs 7g

Fiber 1g

Sugars 0g

Protein 8g

cheese Crisp Squares

2 slices - Sargento Ultra thin Colby Jack cheese

sprinkle of seasoning to taste (I like cayenne pepper)

Break each slice into 4 equal squares, place on parchment paper and lightly sprinkle with your choice of seasoning (no need for salt). Must be parchment paper - NO exceptions! Place in 350° preheated oven on a baking sheet or pizza stone and bake for approximately 3-5 minutes. Keep an eye on them so they don't burn. Slide parchment paper off to cool on counter. Place cheese crisps on paper a towel to soak up any oil. They are super thin and delightfully crispy. They'll satisfy both your chip and cracker needs.

Nutrition Facts

Serving size 8 crackers

Calories 80

Fat 7g

Carbs 1g

Fiber 0g

Sugar 0g

Protein 5g

Magic Crust Quiche - Ham

Ingredients

2 cups 1% Lowfat Milk

1/2 cup All-purpose flour

5 large eggs

1/2 cup 2% Reduced Fat Pepper Jack Cheese shredded

1/2 cup 2% Reduced Fat Swiss Cheese shredded

1/2 cup 2% Reduced Fat Sharp Cheddar Cheese shredded

7 oz Ham diced small

1/4 cup Cooked red bell pepper diced small

1/4 cup Cooked Vidalia or sweet onion diced small

Preheat oven to 350˚. In a blender or NutriBullet, mix eggs, milk and flour until blended, season with salt, pepper, garlic powder or whatever you’d like. In a bowl combine all cheeses, cooked meat and cooked veggies (optional). Now add blended mixture and stir to combine. Pour into an 8”x8” or 9”x9” square glass dish. Bake for 50-55 minutes. Let stand 5-10 before serving. You can add whatever cheeses, veggies or meats suit your taste. I steer clear of chicken as it seems to dry to me. The small amount of flour firms up the sides and bottom making the “magic crust” while saving tons of calories. The Nutrition Facts are based on recipe above. FYI - the heavier meats, like ground beef, tend to fall to the bottom. Serving size is approximately 2”x2 1/2”

Nutrition Facts

Servings 12

Per serving:

Calories 120

Protein 12g

Fat 5g

Cholesterol 94 mg

Sodium 253 mg

Potassium 59 mg

Total Carbohydrate 7 g

Sugars 2 g

PIZZA CRUST – (Chicken)

Ingredients

• One pound ground (raw) chicken breast
• ¼ cup grated Parmesan
• ¼ cup Reduced fat 4 cheese Italian shredded cheese – ¼ cup shredded cheese is 1 oz. by weight
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• ½ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp black or cayenne pepper (I used cayenne)

Tools

• Mixing bowl (stand mixer - easiest combining method)
• Baking sheet, pizza pan or pizza stone (crispiest crust)
• Parchment paper
• Wax paper
• Rolling pin
• Pam or any vegetable non-stick cooking spray

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 450°F.

1. In a medium bowl combine all of the above ingredients.

1. Place a wet paper towel on a flat surface then place your parchment paper on it. Spray it with Pam and then put your chicken mixture on top. Mixture makes 1 large or I like to make 6 – 3 oz. portions, so 6 individual crusts. Lightly spray a sheet of wax paper with non-stick cooking spray (makes for easy removal). Place wax paper, sprayed side down and evenly press using a rolling pin to get it as thin as you’d like. Remove the wax paper and place parchment paper on pan bake until golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes (depending on thickness).

1. Put the crust between two paper towels and pat to absorb any grease. It is chicken after all. Then place it on a new sheet of parchment before topping it. Top baked crust with sauce, cheese and you favorite healthy toppings.

1. Place back in oven on baking sheet or preheated pizza stone and cook until melted and bubbly 5 to 6 minutes. Remove from oven and enjoy! If you bake it on a pizza stone it will get crispier.

Crust Only:

Nutrition Facts

Amount Per Serving:

Servings 6.0

Calories 114

Total Fat 3g

Carbohydrate 1g

Dietary Fiber 0g

Sugars 0g

Protein 19g

As Prepared :

1 Tbsp Prego pizza sauce

2 Tbsp Sargento reduced fat 4 cheese Italian shreds

1 tsp sautéed Vidalia onion

1 tsp sautéed red bell pepper

½ oz. cooked 90/10 lean ground beef

Nutrition Facts

Servings 1.0

Calories 238

Total Fat 10g

Carbohydrate 5g

Dietary Fiber 1g

Sugars 2g

Protein 31g

If you have ANY questions at all, please don't hesitate to ask

[Inner Surfer Girl 12,015]

Sounds like you may need to redefine failure.

A stall is not a failure, it's a necessary part of the process.

Failure is not trying something new and not doing it perfectly. (For me, it's only failure if I don't try something at all.)

I spent a great deal of time paralyzed by the fear of failure. For me, I was the kid who hated to do anything badly, so I hated practicing (music, sports, etc.).

Guess what? It turns out you have to be able to do things badly and imperfectly to actually reach excellence. We have to be willing to fail in order to succeed, otherwise we stay paralyzed.

A great book about this is OUTLIERS. The stories about how many hours it takes to truly master something was truly enlightening to me.

I encourage you to explore your dealings about failure and perfectionism. You might be surprised what could happen if you learned to look at it differently.

[winklie 518]

@@beachgal2935

OMG THANK YOU. I hate those shakes, I use powders?utm_source=BariatricPal&utm_medium=Affiliate&utm_campaign=CommentLink" target="_ad" data-id="1" >unjury I wonder if I could substitute? But the rest look wonderful and I will be sure to try them all.

[winklie 518]

@@Inner Surfer Girl

I completely get what you are saying. I really do. I don't know if this will come across correctly but I will try. My brain, the way I am wired is to solve problems. It is what I do. I see everything as a problem, and seek the solution. Let's say I rebuild my PC and it won't boot. That is a process to me, I did not fail, I may have done something wrong, but in the end I will succeed.

I saw weight loss the same way, as a process, and it was going well. Move more eat less = lose weight, then suddenly that was not true. I felt as if I had failed the process in some way. I see it differently now, I look at it a different way.

I will keep moving and continue the program as advised by my NUT. Trust the program she says. So I will.

[Inner Surfer Girl 12,015]

I get it (I have many engineers in my life, and I am about half-engineer myself) but the fallacy in your reasoning (and that of many, many people) is that you are viewing the human body as a simple machine (inputs+work=outputs, or whatever the equation is, I don't remember off the top of my head) and not the marvelously complex system that it really is.