Requesting BASIC diet/weightloss advice and support

[MoneyGal]

I am NOT hungry.

New question: some of the breakfast recipes in the low-carb cookbook look so yummy but I don't want to only eat them at breakfast. Example: a baked ancho chilis dish with lots of queso fresco (which I don't have, but I have some goat's cheese at home) and parmesan. How could I "convert" a breakfast recipe to a dinner recipe?

[MoneyGal]

Oh em gee, you guys; I am about to sign up for a meat CSA for pasture-raised animals and fresh organic eggs. Includes DUCK eggs!

[Muse-Inc]

I am NOT hungry

Great!!!

...some of the breakfast recipes in the low-carb cookbook look so yummy but I don't want to only eat them at breakfast....How could I "convert" a breakfast recipe to a dinner recipe?

Why do you need to convert them? Convert them how?

[MoneyGal]

I just mean...can I eat breakfast for dinner?!

[BlackSpinner]

I just mean...can I eat breakfast for dinner?!

I grew up with the concept that bacon and eggs are supper dishes. Just pretend your European.

[Catnap]

Just an FYI, there's a low-carb forum I've been a member of for a long time that has lots of good recipes posted. It's http://www.lowcarbeating.com. The forum, itself, isn't nearly as active as this one, but the recipes section is terrific, and the forum is a good one -- just kind of quiet a lot of the time.

[DoriC]

<snip> …


Low carb means just that ... low carb. It could be high protein or it could be high fat so long as carbs are kept “low”. There is nothing circular about it. There are different levels of low carb as well. The ideal low carb is one that replaces carb calories with fat calories and maintains an adequate amount of protein. Oy!!

Ultra-low carb is also known as ketogenic when carbs are limited to 50 grams per day or less. Very low carb is between 50 and 100 grams per day. Low carb is between 100 and 150 grams per day. Above 150 grams per day it is no longer considered low carb and based on a 2000 caloric day that is anything greater than 30% of calories from carbs. Which means that one can be on a low carb diet and still eat more than the USDA recommended servings of veggies … what the f --- … oy!!!

The average US diet consists of over 60% carbs … ergo, US population consists of over 60% overweight/obese people. OY!

DS, Can you provide me with a sample of what a 100-150gm/day LC meal plan for B/L/D would look like? Or direct me to an easy to follow book where I can actually see what a week's menus would look like? Also does "oy" make you fat? Thanks.

[DreamStalker]

Dori,

I try and keep it simple. I don't use recipes. I don't measure anything (well, I used to sort of about a year ago but no longer).

I eat only non-starchy veggies, quality meats, quality fats from olive oil and coconut oil and the fat from whatever is on the meats. Once in a while I will eat nuts and berries and/or heavy creme or kefir for dairy. That is it. Keeping it that simple assures me that on average, I will always be eating low carb regardless of how much I eat. I eat as much as I want whenever I'm hungry. No set meal times, and plans are to eat what ever I have available. I don't always eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Some days I do, some days only lunch and dinner, some days only dinner, and every once in a while nothing at all. It is all pretty random type meal times and planning. The thing that is so cool about eating this way is that you never get ravenously hungry and fasting for a whole day is very easy. That is how our body is designed to work. This random way of eating helps keep our hormone sensitivities up high because the body is not constantly in a digestive mode like when eating lots of regular and frequent meals (eating every 3 to 4 hours as suggested by conventional dietitians is wrong advice but high carb diets keep you hungry all of the time so that you are always wanting to eat right after you just finished ... and that is what fast food restaurants know and want). Giving the body a break from eating on a regular basis enables us to produce and restock needed enzymes so that we can fully utilize nutrients when we do eat a real healthy nutritious meal. The body is a marvelous self-sustaining system that evolved over millions of years to deal with the randomness of nature with regard to what and when we eat. That is our optimal state of being. That is what our hunter-gatherer genes were selected for and trained to thrive on.

About a year ago I got myself a glucose meter and learned what type of foods made my blood sugar levels rise. Blood sugar information can be used as a proxy for insulin levels. Keeping insulin levels low is what low carb diets are all about. The glycemic index/load approach is useless. A glucose meter does not lie. That is how I learned what I should eat and what I should avoid. Eventually I discovered that the foods I could eat were the same foods included in the paleolithic or primal diets (non-starchy veggies, quality meats, and quality fats). That set me off doing research into the paleo/primal lifestyle and I never looked back.

So keep it simple. Eat non-starchy veggies, quality meats, and quality fats (and herbs and spices to add low-carb flavor) -- perhaps nuts, berries, and high-fat dairy for quick on-the-go hunger stoping snacks. Eat when you are hungry and don't when you are not. Keep things random and learn to listen to your body. Give your body quality foods and it will make good use of them and return the favor in the form of good health. So simple, even a caveman (or cavewoman) could do it.

[Muse-Inc]

Hey DS, I fried bacon & broke up in 1/2 inch pieces, tossed all but about a TBSP of the fat (too many chemicals) and added 2+ TBSP coconut oil, tossed in sliced red cabbage & slice onions, sprinkled garlic-pepper & fresh grd pepper, stir fried until started to wilt & nicely coated with fat, added 1/3 cup chicky broth, & simmered 5 mins; served with crispy bacon on top. Wow, talk about yummy! Thanx for the idea. Had it with beef hamburger containing crumbled Feta, oregano, and minced black olive & red bell pepper. Tasty meal.

[DreamStalker]

Hey DS, I fried bacon & broke up in 1/2 inch pieces, tossed all but about a TBSP of the fat (too many chemicals) and added 2+ TBSP coconut oil, tossed in sliced red cabbage & slice onions, sprinkled garlic-pepper & fresh grd pepper, stir fried until started to wilt & nicely coated with fat, added 1/3 cup chicky broth, & simmered 5 mins; served with crispy bacon on top. Wow, talk about yummy! Thanx for the idea. Had it with beef hamburger containing crumbled Feta, oregano, and minced black olive & red bell pepper. Tasty meal.

Cool. I guess I should have said ... keep it simple in terms of what types of foods you eat and when you eat, and use your creativity to mix and match however complex you want your meal to be.

I never make the same meal "exactly" more than once -- even when using the same ingredients. Because I don't measure, and because I don't plan, the meal I create is always somewhat unique.

Bon appetit everyone.

I wanted to add for those trying to understand how and why we get fat and how we can fix it, Stephen just finished a series of posts on the topic of "body fat setpoints" over on his Whole Health Source Blog.

A highly recommended read.

[secret agent girl]

.

[ozij]

Try combining Gendlin's "Focusing" with Susie Orbach's small book called "Eating".

O.

[DreamStalker]

DreamStalker, you're at the advanced level of meal prep, and have "chunked" much of the learning so it's second nature. Some of us, with our busy and frazzled lives, need more hand-holding, a streamlined approach to kick-off the learning & change, and/or maybe we are more visual or concrete learners. I am going to check out the book recommended on this thread and a few others. If I find anything helpful for those of us in the first baby steps of this new and unfamiliar approach, I will post about it.

I did want to also recommend something that might be helpful to others for some of the more subtle influences on changing one's eating lifestyle, in light of some of the posts here. If someone's following the food proportions fine and feeling satiated (the behavioral side), then he/she may not need or be interested in the emotional/mental component. For lots of people, myself included, I need support on both fronts (and probably a few others! )

One quick, free, and relatively easy way to tune into and work with this side of things is to incorporate some kind of mindfulness. "Focusing" is a technique I have used for various purposes and I like the results. You can google that term and/or request from your public library the book The Power of Focusing.

Try combining Gendlin's "Focusing" with Susie Orbach's small book called "Eating".
O.

I was going to suggest that you go back and search this thread for ozij's posts for recommendations on the mental front.

As for advanced level on meal prep ... I learned to cook watching TV

Well actually my grandfather taught me the very basics when I was 8 yo. Cook firm veggies first and soft veggies last when you have a mix of them and my dad taught me very early on how to start and control a fire on the grill and how to grill meat ... the basics. In 2006 when I realized I had to do something about my bad diet habits, I accepted the fact that eating out was a bad thing. In order to be in control of what you eat, you have to shop for and prepare your own food. Like with CPAP, you have to learn to select your own equipment and control your own treatment.

I began watching the Food Channel on cable TV and Americas Test Kitchen on PBS (from 2006 to about 2008). From watching TV I learned how to select quality ingredients and cookware and how to use it to prepare my own meals. The rest is just the creativity of mixing flavors and textures together (that comes with individual experience and personal taste).

I guess a major reason many of us find ourselves in such a mess is that we have been trained to trust the professional industry, be it health or food. We have become used to being served our food (grown, harvested, and prepared by other professionals) out of convenience perhaps way back with the invention of canned foods and TV dinners. We live in a world in the fast lane. Perhaps we need to slow down and take the time to live, to do things for ourselves instead of having them done for us. Rooster just posted on another thread about the human bed warmers ... I'm wondering how much longer before we are solicited to have someone take a shower for us or sleep for us or when we start hearing commercials like ... ask your doctor if having someone poop for you is right for you ...

Slow down and take time out for yourself. Take pleasure in shopping for your meat and veggies or better yet go hunt your meat and grow your own veggies. Take pleasure in cooking and cleaning up afterwards. Prioritize your health over everything else.