<p>I was thinking along the line of Glycemic index.</p>
<p><a href=“Redirect Notice”>Redirect Notice;
<p>^^^
Right but carrots are in the lower glycemic category.</p>
<p>I see. I thought they were medium index, but low Glycemic load. Sigh. I still rather eat a slice of bacon. </p>
<p>@Shrinkrap when I see a comment containing “idiot doctors” and a “low fat diets” I have rarely ever seen a physician push, I have to ignore those posters. I have enough issues with my own patients who argue with me about smoking cessation or blood glucose control. Nutrition is a science that has been around for less than a century and it will be hampered by fad diets. Every new fad diets lead to the public discrediting sound nutritional advice.</p>
<p>The people who have high BMI but low body fat are outliers. Their numbers dwarf in comparison to the high BMI high body fat individuals. The new measurement now is waist to height (WTH). Researchers are still trying to conduct long term studies to elucidate firm conclusions. Until then, we have our BMI numbers.</p>
<p>^Thanks for that. I seem to be getting ZERO time to edit.</p>
<p>Glycemic index vs Glycemic load.</p>
<p><a href=“Redirect Notice”>Redirect Notice;
<p>Nutrition is probably better viewed as a religion than a science.</p>
<p>And the attention paid to nutrition and food consumption is just as reasonable as the attention paid to exercise. </p>
<p>Shellz, I have to salute you! This is a long, hard tough road.</p>
<p>I have lost 100 lbs. – it has taken three years. I plateau every 10 pounds now and tend to stay there for about six months before I get another sudden drop. I’m 5’8" and my cardiologist and primary doc would like to see me around 153-155. That would get me to a solid size 14 (I’m a 14/16 now, depending on the cut). I’m just not built to get thinner than that and I want to be able to maintain my loss.</p>
<p>My current focus is on my waist to height measurement, since that seems to be a risk issue for cardiac events, and I have had enough of that, thank you very much! I carry all my weight around the middle at this point. I look in the mirror and think my face looks terribly gaunt, but if I look in the mirror in my underwear, I still see size 26-28.</p>
<p>I never did the bags of potato chips or quart of ice cream in one sitting thing. I do confess to eating entirely too much fast food, which was the first thing I cut out when I started this odyssey (that was an easy 20 lbs right there). Have not had fast food in three years now. I also eliminated diet soda – I used to drink 2 liters a day. I need to cut out the iced tea with sweetener – the sweetener seems to make me hungrier. I was a stress eater and we always had dinner at 9 pm when DH got home so that we could have a family meal together. Great for togetherness, bad for diet.</p>
<p>After talking to the nutritionist at cardiac rehab, she calculated my calorie goal at 1400 (which was the same number I had figured). I do well when I am at home and eat the same foods – but if I am elsewhere, it is hard to stick to it. This is something I’m still sorting out. </p>
<p>The hard part is managing sodium intake – I have to be <em>really</em> careful about this when eating out. I’m not a big salt or sweets lover in the first place. I’m all about bread and pasta (and cheese). I don’t do croutons on salad and I have always used <em>maybe</em> a teaspoon of salad dressing – I like my lettuce crunchy, not doused in liquids.</p>
<p>Like ema upthread, I also get hit with the “special occasion” foods all the time. I can’t eat special occasion foods every day. Wish my DH, S2 and my dad/sibs would get this. I don’t want to waste splurges on the packaged lasagna someone threw in the oven and then added a pound of shredded cheese on top of that. I <em>like</em> steamed shrimp and veggies – I do not need them soaked in soy sauce/BBQ/butter!</p>
<p>And for the love of all that’s holy, don’t tell me at 8 pm you want to go out for dinner! By that time, I have already had my calories for the day and if I eat that late, I gain weight.</p>
<p>And I do exercise – not that I can run 5ks or do high-intensity aerobics, but I walk a lot and work out at cardiac rehab three-four days a week.</p>
<p>I attained my current height over 4 decades ago, when I turned 12 or 13. I went from 4’11’’ to 5’5.5" in one year and went from 99 pounds to 125. Can you say stretch marks? I used to be able to eat anything and everything and NEVER gain an ounce. Never had much interest in deep fried or greasy food and am even less interested in in these days.</p>
<p>Around the time I turned 40 or so, I was diagnosed with a serious chronic illness and was starting to gain weight. My allergist is about the same age as I am and said it was because our metabolism was slowing down. Seeing as how I am NOT a fan of serious workouts, I decided to focus more on portion control instead of worrying about ramping up exercise. I am pretty stable at about 130-135 now but am told I look MUCH thinner (must have heavy bones). </p>
<p>I find sizing very perplexing. I can wear a size 4 in some brands and 8-10 in others. I need to try things on to see how they fit. D is even tougher and is usually a size 0 or 00, but in some brands she is larger. She’s 5’2.5" and about 100 pounds or less.</p>
<p>H makes us each a bowl of oatmeal with some form of protein every morning, which we eat with some fruit–half an orange or apple or some sliced strawberries and/or bananas. I also drink water, rice milk, or half a glass of orange juice and more water. </p>
<p>For lunch, we either eat about 1/2 to 1 cup of rice, a few ounces of meat, vegetables, maybe another 1/2 a fruit and drink water. Sometimes, if we are home we will also have some nuts or trail mix.</p>
<p>For dinner, we have similar food as lunch.</p>
<p>When we dine out (which we do about 3-7 times/week), we eat what we feel like and bring the leftovers home for another meal or two. Sometimes (at more casual ethnic carry out places), we will order one meal and share it, and even bring that home as it may be too much for both of us.</p>
<p>I have cut back on carbs significantly and not missed them (was always much more a fan of veggies & fruits). For desserts (especially at buffets), I have a miniscule sample and then when I decide there is something I really LOVE, I will go back and have a larger piece of whatever stuck my fancy. H and I also usually dine of out saucers or salad plates or small Corningware bowls. It really does help with portion control and help you realize when you are taking more than one serving/portion of the meal.</p>
<p>H has only gained about 20 pounds in the over 5 decades since he graduated from HS and he eats mostly what I do. It has worked out nicely for us; most of his and my peers have gained a LOT of weight. Neither H nor I snack much at all, or if we do, it’s a small handful of nuts or trail mix. We rarely drink much alcohol–only for special occasions or have very small pours of a bottle of wine (a bottle tends to last about a month or longer in our fridge). H drinks a cup of black coffee most mornings as well. We rarely drink sweetened beverages, other than the 1/2 glass of OJ (when we have it in the fridge).</p>
<p>@CountingDown right back at ya! It’s a long journey, with lots of bumps and setbacks. I am learning to be more patient with myself, the older I get. 2 steps forward, 1step back is still forward progress!!</p>
<p>@ frugaldoctor-
No, not all doctors are idiots,but many of them are locked into modes of thought that are outdated or worse. They know about the latest in drugs out there, so recently when studies have finally backed up what more than a few people were saying, that diet has nothing to do with cholesterol levels in the blood, doctors are expanding the number of people they give statin drugs to. Doctors still push Niacin as a fix for the HDL/LDL ratio, when studies have conclusively shown that while it does help that ratio, in the end it doesn’t prevent heart disease (in part, because studies now show that HDL/LDL ratio isn’t such a magic number, but rather that LDL particles and the size of them is the issue; and that eating significant intake of grains causes the number and the wrong type to increase). My own cardiologist last time I saw him was pushing a low fat diet, saying that eating whole grains would lower the HDL/LDL ratio, how meat should be scarce, and so forth, yet when he looked at my numbers he was shocked that my cholesterol levels overall had dropped, and more importantly, that my LDL particle count and size was way down, yet I am eating a diet where I don’t eat a lot of grains, I eat lean protein including meat and chicken, and the difference from before I ate this kind of diet is pretty dramatic.My real argument is doctors need to keep up with what nutrition science and research is telling us, and from everything I have seen medicine is very fast to update protocols when it comes to dispensing drugs, like statins, but do a poor job with nutrition, being at an age when things like heart disease and such become concerns, and talking to friends plus my own experience with doctors, it sounds like they are telling us the same thing they told my dad 20,30 years ago. </p>
<p>Yes, nutrition has a lot of fads, but there are serious scientists and such working on it, and there is serious research as well. The grapefruit diet is fad nutrition, the atkins diet is fad nutrition, they work but are not long term solutions and will fail for a lot of reasons, and also are not healthy, and to claim that work nutrition science is doing is ‘fads’ while what doctors give is ‘good advice’ is to ignore the fact that doctors have a hard time listening to researchers (from what I understand, the doctor who came up with the homocysteine mechanism for cholesterol was called a charlatan and worse, that of course eating diets with cholesterol in it was the direct cause of blocked arteries, because the medical profession had been preaching that for many decades). I can’t entirely blame doctors, given how many patients they see, lot easier to keep up with drugs out there than on nutrition, but in my experience they don’t. </p>
<p>@ shrinkwrap-
Carrots are okay to eat, they are in the same class as green vegetables, in part because they are high in fiber. Corn though it is fibrous, is loaded with sugars (hence high fructose corn syrup:). With potatoes, they are healthy in moderation, and actually a sweet potato is more healthy than a white one, which seems a contradiction:). The big factor with vegetables is they fill you up and they are generally low in caloric content as well, plus the fiber is good for you. </p>
<p>While I don’t use the label (for a lot of reasons), the so called Paleo diets, despite what the food industry tries to say, emphasizes vegetables, it is not the Atkins diet which is a disaster area, it emphasizes vegetables, then lean protein, then healthy fats like nuts and oils in more moderation. I disagree with the Paleo on taking it to be ‘well, our ancestors didn’t eat X’, for a lot of reasons, I don’t think Cheese and dairy products are forbidden (in moderation), I don’t even think grains are to be forbidden, just kept relatively low, I love olives and I guarantee you paleo man didn’t eat them:). It also comes down to eating what works for you, there are people where a high carb diet works better for them, and that is important as well, it is finding what works for you, try different things and see. One of the reasons I am not a fan of the medical profession and diet and fitness is they tend to be as rigid as the paleo types, it is one of the reasons I like the nutrition site I use for information (if you are interested, PM me, I’ll send you the link…it is a nutrition and fitness coaching site, but they have a lot of great information on it for free, I like their take on things, it is pragmatic and they promote finding what works for you)</p>
<p>Just have to put this out there.</p>
<p>Why does it seem every thread founded on someone wanting to develop some beginning new habits of nutrition/exercise have to get so “technical”??? If you are someone who is just stepping foot into the arena of wanting to change your health lifestyle habits, dissecting science/nutrition and the medical profession becomes very overwhelming and often leads people right back to the couch and a plate of cookies. </p>
<p>This thread started on portion control. A very simple concept. A very good starting point for someone wanting to make some beginning changes. Raise your hand if that’s why you tuned into the thread! </p>
<p>I’ve got to play the advocate for the newbie. :)</p>
<p>@musicpmt: high fructose corn syrup is a man made substance using corn starch as a base and adding enzymes. Corn itself does not contain any high fructose corn syrup,</p>
<p>Sorry, @abasket I actually agree with your comment above but just wanted to clarify that point.</p>
<p>Good post, abasket!</p>
<p>Things that help me:</p>
<p>We use a very old set of dishes, from around 1960, most of the time. Every piece is much, much smaller than the equivalent piece of more recently made dishes.</p>
<p>I especially love the “berry bowls”, which are very small, but perfect for portion control.</p>
<p>Recently on the Today Show they did a piece about what works psychologically to get people to eat less without being aware of it. One random group of audience members went through a buffet line that was set up with small plates, small forks and spoons, small serving utensils, and was arranged so that salads, vegetables and fruit salads were the first items, with pasta, and other heavy entrees last. A second group went through the same buffet line, but with larger plates, utensils and serving spoons, and with the order of foods reversed. The heavy entrees were first, the salads, veges and fruits were last. </p>
<p>The second group consumed an average (I might be off on the exact number here) of 800 more calories per person in that single meal. </p>
<p>People tend to fill their plates, regardless of the plate size. People tend to fill their plates mostly with the first things they see, when given a choice. </p>
<p>Weight Watchers!</p>
<p>Nothing teaches portion control and healthy eating habits like weight watchers does. </p>
<p>I am 5’1" inches tall, 53+ years old and today I weighed 118 pounds. My once amazing metabolism has gone to crap in these peri-menopausal years and I LOVE to eat. I never understand how anyone could forget a meal. I have been a weight watcher lifetime member since 1991, after losing 25 leftover pregnancy weight. My weight tends to go up and down 5 pounds through the years until last year, boom, I was 15 pounds up. I reupped at weight watchers and it took 9 months to lose the weight. This year, after keeping the weight off for 7 months, I realized that 5 pounds had crept back on me. I went back to weekly weigh ins and tracking food at weight watchers and now, after almost 2 months, I am back to 118. </p>
<p>Typical Day:</p>
<p>Breakfast: cup of coffee with creamer and splenda. One banana</p>
<p>Lunch: Sandwich (2 slices of 40/cal bread, 2 oz. ham or turkey, lettuce and tomato), an apple or a cup of grapes or melon, one skinny cow or weight watcher ice cream treat. </p>
<p>Dinner: 5-6 ounces of chicken, pork loin or fish, one baked potato with 1 tablespoon of lowfat sour cream, tons of steamed veggies (I love brussel sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower or asparagus, cup of melon. A weight watcher or skinny cow dessert ( I LOVE MY SWEETS). One 6 oz glass of wine. </p>
<p>This works for me but it is a slow process. I am NOT skinny but I am not fat (or chunky either). I wear a size 4 slacks and dress. </p>
<p>I have a luncheon set from the 1960’s and yes, the plates are smaller and the berry bowls are nice. Unfortunately, the dishes are not dishwasher safe, so I don’t use them on a daily basis. </p>
<p>I find that when I eat out with my girlfriends I order something smaller and healthier than if I’m by myself. It’s subtle or not so subtle peer pressure. I don’t want to look like a little piggie when I’m with my friends, ha. </p>
<p>Just a comment on portion control: if you don’t want to weigh and measure, try eating half of what you want to eat, waiting twenty minutes, and seeing if you’re still hungry. If you’re a little bit hungry, you’re done; a lot hungry, have half of what’s left. Not hungry? Eat less next time.</p>