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<p>Yeah PizzaGirl. 5 pound party time! Skinny jeans are a good thing…</p>
<p>I was in a manager’s office yesterday discussing a technical matter when someone walked in with a huge cake (1 ft x 2 ft x 4 inches). It had an incredible amount of frosting on it. The manager invited me to the meeting room for cake but I declined. Later in the afternoon, I saw the remainder of the cake in the kitchen (there was still quite a bit left). This morning, there was one piece and a ton of frosting left (people scraped the frosting off and took the cake).</p>
<p>The holiday stuff can be a real killer on diets. If your manager offers the group a cake in a meeting, are you going to decline? That’s a tough question unless you’re known to be hardcore on your diet.</p>
<p>The other thing is that I received an email earlier this week that the cafeteria was serving a full turkey dinner for yesterday (one week before Thanksgiving). I’ve had this full turkey dinner (for lunch) before. It is a wonderful spread but I would guess that it’s about 2,000 calories. Fortunately for me, I went for a run and forgot about what they were serving. I brought my own food in anyways.</p>
<p>So those working in offices should get prepared for the onslaught of food to come.</p>
<p>I have to say without sounding like an evangelist here, that by cutting down on carbs I have MAJORLY reduced my cravings for sweets, such that sweets that normally tempt me, I look at now and go “eh.” I did treat myself to a soy pumpkin chai this morning at Starbucks, but even that kind of stuff, I am weaning myself off.</p>
<p>Strangely enough, I do really well starting diets / lifestyle changes during the holiday season – go figure.</p>
<p>That’s great PizzaGirl. I really like iDad’s theory of five pound wins. I’m enjoying every single one of them. </p>
<p>H’s company has one of those big pre-Thanksgiving spreads today, but at least they quit their many-years practice of bringing in bagels and cream cheese every single day, with donuts added to the mix on Fridays. While the economy is still not good, I’m glad that the bean counters saw this as an easy expense to discontinue during tough times, and I’m hoping it doesn’t reappear. I’m making a nice salad with crab for dinner.</p>
<p>Speaking of crab…that has to be one of the very best foods. I get the Phillips crab in the can, and I usually get at least two lunches for me and one crab salad dinner for both of us out of it. Usable right out of the can, doesn’t need much of anything, and perfectly amenable to many different recipes…all that with no fat, no carbs, and plenty of flavor. Unopened cans are good for quite a while in the fridge…really nice to have a quick supper option since I almost always have good salad makings handy.</p>
<p>I scored a donut at work today. First time in the 3 weeks I’ve been here, so it doesn’t appear to be a regular thing at this place. I have a 10 mile race tomorrow, so I don’t feel guilty. It was good. Also having the company Thanksgiving lunch today. We’ll see what that all involves. 2 miles this morning just to keep the stupid streak going.</p>
<p>Well, you could have another four donuts on ten miles.</p>
<p>Turkey dinners can be semi-successfully navigated from a diet standpoint. The turkey itself is low calorie. The veggies aren’t too bad. The challenge is laying off the stuffing and potatoes! My strategy is to load up ONE plate and walk away. If I had the full turkey dinner for lunch, it would be a salad for dinner.</p>
<p>Kind of jumping in here without reading much of the thread to this point … carbs are what make us fat. They stimulate release of insulin which is an energy storage hormone. Low fat equals high carb in most cases. Most fruit and juices and a lot of other “healthy” foods are really not all that friendly to those of us inclined to gain weight. </p>
<p>I’ve given myself one day a week to eat the junk I’m not supposed to just so I don’t feel too deprived, though as someone mentioned upstream somewhere it seems like cutting carbs out of my diet has has really diminished my cravings for them. Except for pasta. I love pasta. I’m down 22 lbs since June with this plan.</p>
<p>My holiday food at work strategy is to eat only those things that are homemade. Kind of hard to deny trying the things someone took the time and effort to make, bring to work and share. That would probs put my curmudgeon quotient over the top! </p>
<p>Favorite running songs in addition to those mentioned above include Sympathy for the Devil and Paint in Black by the Rolling Stones, Bhodisattva by Steely Dan, Tusk by Fleetwood Mac, Pinball Wizard and Magic Bus by the Who. Most of us here must be late 40, early 50 folks. I’m not seeing a lot of Kid Cudi or Flo Rida!</p>
<p>I’m finding fruit to not be a problem at all. It’s pasta, bread (even whole wheat, etc.) that causes me to be soooo hungry (and of course, sugar). I’m trying to fill up on “good” stuff … eat a plate of vegetables before having dinner, that type of thing. Greek yogurt is also my new BFF. It is amazing to me, however, as someone who has a major sweet tooth, how right now I’m really not tempted by cookies, brownies, other things that normally make me dive in.</p>
<p>Hi Sidelines – you’ll find some kindred spirits here on the lower carb front.</p>
<p>Pizzagirl – I’m with you on the greek yogurt. Fage 2% plain is my new good buddy. I tried a trick that worked on cows. So far it is working for me. (Really – a grad student at the local U taught cows to eat noxious (to the environment) weeds by chopping up the weeds and mixing them with molasses. The cows chomped it down. Then she reduced the molasses. They chomped some more. And so on, until she was spraying a little molasses on plants in the field. And then the cows started eating the plants on their own. Bonus: when they calved, they taught their calves to eat the weeds. Now she’s found that she doesn’t even need to use molasses – go figure. Cows eating diffuse knapweed.) So I started putting a bunch of honey into plain greek yogurt, and I’ve been decreasing how much I put in rather steadily. I’m down to 1 t. of honey in 4 oz. of yogurt, and I’m happy. Less if I toss in some raspberries and swirl them around. So I’m not quite as good as a cow…but a whole lot better than buying sweetened yogurt.</p>
<p>Congrats, PG!
I had the same experience that you described. It finally clicked for me that the carby stuff actually MADE me eat more of it. Once I eliminated them, they have no power over me, because I notice I don’t really like the stuff as much as I thought. Not to say that I will never have anything sweet or carby again, but I recognize that there is something biochemical going on rather than psychological.</p>
<p>I am finding that tea with Splenda and a bit of cream or almond milk or coconut milk is a nice sweet carbless treat that serves the purpose that a cookie or carby snack would have in the past.</p>
<p>I haven’t been doing as much Greek yogurt as I have in the past, just in an effort to really keep the carbs down. But I think the plain Fage with a bit of fresh fruit added and a smidge of Splenda Brown sugar mixture makes for a very good dessert.</p>
<p>I just bought some Splenda that comes in different flavors, like mocha, etc. I know some people say not to use artificial sweeteners at all, but I can’t go there.</p>
<p>I love Fage full fat yogurt with a little maple syrup along with oatmeal and maybe cut up apple chunks. It’s super filling. I often don’t need lunch when I start the day with this.</p>
The reason for that is that falling insulin level is a hunger trigger. Foods that spike insulin quickly and then get metabolized trigger the hunger a short time later as the insulin levels fall again.
Whole fruit doesn’t do this – in part because the fructose doesn’t trigger an insulin release and in part because the fiber in whole fruit slows the absorbtion of the carbs and reduces the rapid spikes. Fruit juice, on the other hand, is horrible because all the fiber has been removed. The same with most pasta, breads, and other highly refined grains. That stuff hits fast, spikes blood sugar and insulin like crazy.
Fruit can be a problem in excess, particularly if you start doing smoothies and stuff. But, of all the options for a sweet tooth fix, fruit is the best option because it’s digested more slowly.
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<p>Fantastic. 22 pounds is four 5-pound parties in less that five months!</p>
<p>I was the same as you. I allowed myself one pasta or pizza dinner each week (small portion with a big salad). Now, I’ve even gotten away from that, although I will occasionally have a carb blowout meal.</p>
<p>"I’m finding fruit to not be a problem at all. "</p>
<p>Fruit is not a problem for a good reason. In addition to sugars and starches, fruit usually contains a decent amount of fiber.</p>
<p>I’m very big on an orange at breakfast, a big apple at lunch. Fills me up, hydrates me, tastes good. </p>
<p>Another good diet mainstay for me – broccoli stalks. If I buy broccoli, I’ll trim the florets and leave the stalks, trim off the ends. They are great just to sort of gnaw on when you’re hungry and cooking dinner. Not too glamorous but healthy and again fills you up.</p>
<p>I like broccoli stalks, too! And cabbage cores. :)</p>
<p>^About music & exercise–I understand if there’s choreography involved. But most of the time it’s just aerobic exercise in the same order day after day. You could play any upbeat music! It’s just laziness on the part of the instructors.</p>
I literally loled at this, because I have actually said this exact phrase on numerous occasions. I have never been a “Kool-Aid drinker” and am a born skeptic so always wary of fads, trends and quick fixes, but the carb-hunger link is indisputable for <em>me</em> now.