It's time to do something - But what? I need to loose weight

Eggcelsior

Have you ever tried Walden Farms dressings? I haven't but my dealer just started carrying them. They are carb-free.

robnybbq

I have yet to enjoy leftovers.  Never the same as the day they are cooked.

GrannyX4

robnybbq said:

I have yet to enjoy leftovers.  Never the same as the day they are cooked.

Leftovers are not the same, but we all eat them. Try to figure out how to make them edible for you. So far there has just been a lot of lame excuses. You are on the right track. You just need to find a way to stay there.

Duckhook18

Different things work for different people. The key is to be educated and willing to sacrifice a little to get results. This is working for me and my brother. He heard about it watching an MMA fight, one of the trainers uses this method to get his fighters in shape. Google the Warrior Diet and Chad Waterbury Diet. http://www.warriordiet.com/
It's an interesting concept that has scientific validity and was recommended by my Doctor. My brother has lost almost 40 lbs while recovering from a torn Achilles' tendon and couldn't exercise. I have lost 5 lbs and been doing it for about 10 days. Good luck!

robnybbq

Tried Walden Farms Ceasar dressing last night - Blah - Tastes more like creamy Italian.

Chicken something tonight - May not Egg as I will be home late.  Got to find a really good no carb chicken recipe.

gdenby

Some more about sauces.

The local market often has whole pork loins at a very good price. For pork, very lean, but not very flavorful. Found a 2 lb chunk at the back of my freezer from my last purchase, and decided it needed to be cooked.

Cut six slices 1/4" thick, or there about. Made a quick marinade. Some Asian peanut oil, some sherry vinegar, some very good soy sauce, some lemon juice, and some Worcestershire sauce (an English attempt at making Indian curry, I've read.). Of those, only the soy sauce had a measurable 1% of carbs. There was little bit of mustard powder and some dried ginger. Took maybe 2 min. to throw together.

Into the fridge for 4 hours. Could have sat 8. Preheated an electric fry pan w. a bit of rendered beef fat. Placed the pork cutlets in, and strained the marinade. Turned the pork slices after a few minutes, and and added about an ounce of cheap sweet wine. A tiny bit of carbs, Then poured in the filtered marinade. Cooked till the marinade was simmering awhile. Total cook time, less than 10 min.

My wife's immediate comment was "This is good. Its usually dry and flavorless. Is there citrus in it?" I pointed to the bottles still on the table, in particular, the lemon juice. Voila! She ate more than I did.

The protein mains were good, and all but carb free.

fishlessman

how about chicken kabobs with some pineapple, red peppers, green peppers. short marinade in some italian dressing with jalapenos, or a lemon, vinegar, oil, and herb type marinade

GrannyX4

What is wrong with chicken salad???? Spatch one night chicken salad for lunch. For sure that is not dry!!! ;;)

SWVABeanCounter

GrannyX4 said:

What is wrong with chicken salad???? Spatch one night chicken salad for lunch. For sure that is not dry!!! ;;)

+1 And there are so many different things you can add so it isn't the same every day.

Little Steven

Probably a good idea for you to get a vacuum sealer and put your lunches in hot water to reheat.

fishlessman

theres no way chicken scampi could be too dry
rob, your rules keep changing so here it is to make everyone happy, cook the scampi and remove your serving and your daughters serving, add in some tomatos and heat the last serving up again for your wife. make pasta, rice, and steamed broccoli. your serving of scampi goes on the broccoli, your daughters serving goes on the pasta, your wifes goes on the rice
)

robnybbq

I have a vacuum sealer.  At work there is not hot water/stove to reheat only a microwave.

She wont eat tomatos so I can skip that step .  I do like the scampi idea.  Maybe I will make that tonight.

I dont understand marinades and what spices to use yet so I have to learn more about them.  Adding a marinade that is high in carbs would defeat the purpose and make the chicken high in carbs - correct?  I need to learn more flavors.  I know basic soy (bland) and BBQ sauce (High in carbs) as well as tomato sauce.

Eggcelsior

Make BBQ sauce with Agave nectar. It is low glycemic index. You typically use 25% less in a recipe than regular sugar.

gdenby

Eggcelsior said:

Make BBQ sauce with Agave nectar. It is low glycemic index. You typically use 25% less in a recipe than regular sugar.

Something I tried w. some success was to use Stevia. No carbs at all. I used some of the dried herb powder, not the refined white powder. The remnant of the "green" flavor was not a plus, but the sweetness was intense. I've read that the herbal powder is 10 - 15 times sweeter than a comparable volume of sugar. I suppose the refined extract even more intense, and sauce would only need a pinch.

robnybbq

So far 19lbs lost - Not bad.  Belt is down to last notch (2 holes moved).  Energy levels are good.

Learning how to eat around carbs.  Went to a few BBQ's last weekend and did good by chucking the bread and eating just the meat and veggies. 

Spaghetti squash has satisfied my pasta cravings.

Started walking this week - 1.2 miles the past two nights.  Will increase that soon.

Going away next weekend to the beach for a few days - This may be a challenge as I liked to enjoy a few beers sitting on the beach but it looks like I will make a jug of iced tea/lemonade (Crystal light) and vodka and bring that to the beach instead.  We bring our own food anyways so that should not be a problem until we go to the boardwalk at night and I smell the Pizza nad see the ice cream - I may have to have a small (kids size) cone of Kohrs Brothers vanilla/orange sherbert mix one night.  After all its vacation at the shore.

Later in the summer we are going on a cruise so that will be an adventure.  No/low carb will go to hell that week I know.

fishlessman

just so you know, woman are walking those decks first thing in the morning on a cruise, they walk fast so try and keep up
by the time the cruise comes your body will be figuring out whats going on, it will be in starvation mode, best way to get out of starvation mode is to eat more for a few days, eat some carbs sugars fats, then start tapering back to low carb over a few days

rjfalski

If I may add......Eating Veggies can be a real downer...One idea is to fork out about $350. and buy a VitaMix blender...Like the BGE, it's not cheap, but it does the job no other blender can do...I take half the container and pack it with raw spinach and add about 3 cups of water to it and then blend it into what looks like green water...It sounds gross, but it's not...maybe if I were to drink that it would be, but after the volume has been reduced add about 8 baby carrot...then add some frozen fruit. Costo is a a great place to get the frozen berries, fruits and anything else you'd like.  Certainly better than the $5.00 Odwalla juice...But you get more than your share of fruits and veggies at one time...More so than if you were to try to eat that much at one time...

robnybbq

Just an update - Down 26 lbs and I had a few bad days due to vacation/party.

Still at it.  Getting a little more creative with the carbs but still keeping them low.

jllbms

A year ago, my doc told me to lose weight to get ready for a surgery. How.? "Protein is king." I adopted a semi-paleo diet and lost 10 lbs easily. The recovery was rough, and I dropped another 15-20. A year later I'm still down almost 25. I want to lose more, but the key is protein and avoid carbs.

robnybbq

its not easy to avoid carbs as they are everywhere.  Restaurants dont care and basically if I am not cooking they are in the meals as well. 
 I went low carb last summer and dropped 30lbs.  I gained almost all of it back.  I got sick of eating plain meat every night.

DaveM

Go gluten free.  I lost 10-pounds (210#-200#) without any suffering.  I also stopped using any sugar in my rubs.  Instead, I use a touch of honey, which is much healthier (no glucose).

Your egg is very friendly to low carb and low sugar diets.

plumbfir01

most people associate paleo is low carb, however its not. Veggies, sweet potatoes and fruit like straweberries carry a nutritious load of carbs an eating enough quanities will allow you to feel full, be happy and healthy. Too much meat is not a good thing and proper portioning is key. its taking me years to figure it out but im slowly dialing it in. Good luck. 

johnkitchens

Last week I got back ON the weight loss wagon after many years (12) of being off. I lost a lot of weight in a one year period 12 years ago, but I fell off the wagon the day we brought our newborn daughter home from the hospital. 

I was tired and there was a lot of good food and one thing led to another and here we are 12 years later heavier than ever. 

I have cut out sweets and junk (chips, etc) and snacking in general. I think I lost about 9 pounds last week. I already feel a lot better! 

wpendlegg

Altering your diet and your portions is key but I hope that exercise is a part of your plan. It amazes me to go into our break room at work and hear people talking about what they cooked, or how much they ate, or what diet they are on, or what supplements they are taking, or how many calories something is. 

I never hear them talking about exercising. From the looks of it, most don't.

Some people have a serious aversion to exercise and physical activity but it's crucial. Not just for weight loss but for your health and well being!

Eggcelsior

wpendlegg said:

Altering your diet and your portions is key but I hope that exercise is a part of your plan. It amazes me to go into our break room at work and hear people talking about what they cooked, or how much they ate, or what diet they are on, or what supplements they are taking, or how many calories something is. 

I never hear them talking about exercising. From the looks of it, most don't.

Some people have a serious aversion to exercise and physical activity but it's crucial. Not just for weight loss but for your health and well being!

This. It is A LOT easier to go from eating a 2Kcal diet and burn 500 calories through exercise than it is to go from 2K to 1.5K through diet alone. 

NPHuskerFL

+1 diets don't work. Case in point my SWMBO. She has struggled for years with weight. She has been using a program she has committed to and has been faithful 25days. She is 100% committed to it. But, it's not a diet for her because like I said diets haven't worked for her (this is a lifestyle change in eating habits). She uses an app
She eats healthy and exercises some and it works for her. I'm very proud of her because it takes crazy willpower. She is still surrounded by great food but, doesn't give in. And often makes 2 meals (one for her and the other for everyone else). Vise versa I do the same thing when egging and make her something special (just for her---she deserves it B-) ). The bottom line is use whatever you can comfortably use and you'll succeed. Enjoy life.

johnkitchens

I need to start walking. I mean making a schedule of walking a few miles a day. I just can't seem to get up early enough to do it before I take the kids to school. The evenings are always so busy with homework etc. but I realize all of those are just excuses. If I wanted to really do it I would get up early and go. 

When I was in high school I ran 3 miles a day. I was 6 ft 2 and weighed 165 lbs. Those days are gone!

I would love to start eventually running again (I enjoyed it), but my surgeon has forbidden me from running at all for a year (which will be up in mid September). 

I broke my patella and pulled the tendon away from the bone and had to have surgery last July. 

I have friends that have had gastric bypass and lap band etc, and no offense to anyone, but I will never do that. It just takes will power which is easier said than done, but I refuse to go the surgical route. Like I said no offense to anyone. It is just my opinion. 

robnybbq

I don't exercise and terrified of it. Then to find time. Work allot of hours and driving kids all over to sports/events takes up my time. Hence eating takeout or eating out which is the worst thing you can do if trying to be healthy. I have to try something again soon as I am not feeling well and exhausted all the time. I don't even use the egg much anymore as no time to use it. And cooking indoors equals fattening crap food

johnmitchell

I haven't read all the comments so if this has been covered i apologize.. What I have found works for me is to embrace the Atkins diet. Buy the book, go on the 2 week induction then follow the meals..Once you have hit your target then introduce more of the South Beach diet..

I have found this worked for me and I found it the easiest one to make a lifestyle.. 

Acn

This will probably sound harsher than I mean it to, but you solicit input and then have a litany of reasons why suggestions won't work.  There isn't a magic wand to wave, if losing weight was easy then Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, diet cookbooks, diet supplements, etc wouldn't be a multi-billion dollar industry. 

If cooking indoors equals 'fattening crap food' then you need to expand your repetoire of techniques and recipes, or retrain your palate, as there are tons of healthy things you can make on the stove.  Even when you eat out, there are certainly better and worse options, which are you choosing? 

Easy steps you can take without really adjusting anything in your life could include focusing on portions, ESPECIALLY if you're eating out a lot - the portions at most restaurants are ridiculous, if you're cleaning your plate you're probably getting almost all the calories you need at dinner.  Think about your days; do you tend to hit the vending machine or run to a 7-11 in mid-afternoon, plan on bringing a better snack for that time; apple slices with a tablespoon of peanut butter, baby carrots and hummus, or a 1/4 c of almonds are substantially better for you than anything you'll get out. 

There are lots of things you can do for extra activity, can you take walks around your office, or wherever you work?  Even if it is just walking for 5 minutes 2-3 times per day that is a big difference.  Park 100 yards further away from work/stores/kids sport event/etc.  If you do that over 5 days of work, 5 kids sporting event and 3 trips to the store you've added a mile and a half of extra walking into your week.  Walk around your neighborhood in the evening instead of watching a TV show you don't really like before bed.  Get some dumbells and do curls while watching something you like.  Don't think of exercise as just going to the gym, there are lots of extra ways to get some movement in.

Are those changes going to help you drop 30+ pounds?  No.  But they may help you drop a few, and they are definitely helping to move you in a better direction.  I know people in my office who say "I can't stick to a diet," and then eat a giant bowl of fettucine alfredo.  Even though sticking to a strict diet hasn't worked for you, that isn't an excuse to eat 3 portions of something.  Even though you can't get to a gym regularly that is no reason to be completely sedentary.  Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good (or better).