BellaOnline Forums Food and Wine Low Carb Lori's Food Journal

Thank you, thank you, Lisa! I am encouraging others in the Marriage forum who are struggling with weight issues that affect their marriage to come here and do the same. Posting this journal REALLY affects the choices I make.

April 19:
Breakfast-coffee with half and half and Splenda, 1/2 cup low-fat cottage cheese, 1/4 cup canned crushed pineapple in 100% natural juice (no sugar added).
Lunch-
Dinner-
Snacks-

Tonight might be another challenge as the family wants to see a movie and I love hot buttered popcorn. I might try to pick up some nuts beforehand.

The update is not great. But it's not bad either. I did eat a taco with a boxed-type hard corn shell. But I only ate ONE and opted for the chicken filling. Only four tortilla strips with salsa. Only 1/2 Tbsp. of sour cream. Anyone who knows how much I adore Mexican food knows this is a MAJOR victory for me! LOL. Everyone went back for seconds but not me! It felt a bit odd to be sitting there chatting in front of my empty plate while everyone else was eating and eating but I figure I might as well get used to it.

As for the cake...it was an event with ten tables and each table had a homemade cake on it. All different types. And we were encouraged to go around and sample each cake. OMG. I ate a very thin sliver of the gluten-free Boston Cream Pie/Cake at my table. But everyone prodded me to try more and I finally succumbed to peer pressure and had a tiny sliver of the Mandarin Orange-Pineapple Cake from the next table.

Two slivers of cake. SO much better than whole slices or even slivers from more cakes! I have no guilt so it must be a victory! HAHA!

Lori's Tips:

#1: Doable, sustainable steps.
#2: Better choices are better, even if you can't do perfect choices.
#3: Be prepared for peer pressure.

I know that last night's company didn't intend on making it hard for me. They weren't "sabotaging" me. It's just life with normal people who like food, too. It's good, however, to have like-minded friends who will encourage you. I found a woman there who was into health so we could talk about health-related food issues. She also didn't go around eating everyone else's cakes so I didn't feel like the lone soul who was depriving herself.

We can't dump our current friends and family who may not share our new lifestyle and we wouldn't want to. But it is extremely important to find a community of like-minded friends--like those here at Bellaonline!

I feel an ebook coming on. hehe.

Last night we had taco salad without chips. There is the meat, we like kidney beans (but only a few because of the carbs), green oinion, black olives, tomato, cheddar cheese, and sliced avocado all on a bed of lettuce. You can trick yourself into thinking you have a ton of food if you really pile up the lettuce before putting the toppings on.

I'm watching my carbs closely right now because I have 5 more pounds to lose to meet my 1st goal.

I really like taco salad! Your salad sounds delish. It's true you can eat veggies by the ton if they're non-starchy.

I'm trying right now to shrink my stomach in the sense that I have to stop overfilling it in order to get that full sensation. My daughter and I would go to Souplantation and only take one tiny morsel from the choices we liked and still ended up with a HUGE plate of roughage. We skipped the breads and desserts, ate only a bowl of soup with it and still...we waddled out the door, regretting overeating the veggies.

Since eating less, I feel less hungry all the time. I was a constant eater but now I don't feel compelled to snack all the time.

How come I can't go back to edit my April 19th post? Hmmm. Anyhoo, here's the update:

April 19:
Breakfast-coffee with half and half and Splenda
Lunch-1 cup of fresh avocado salad
Snack-5 oz. Green Juice (veggies, fruit, wheatgrass), a few peanuts in shell
Dinner-Thai restaurant (Date Night) 1 BBQ chicken thigh, Cashew nut and tofu, Thai basil with beef (very little), jasmine tea.
Dessert-One spoonful of ice cream

The beef dish was too spicy and I had only a few bites.

Better choices: I am no longer snacking out-of-control! NO RICE at dinner. Amazing for me. Instead of my usual fried favs, I chose vegetarian (tofu). Delicious. My husband was impressed that I was able to make good choices and refrain from overeating. He was going to skip on the rice but I told him to get what he wanted because I needed to be okay being around everyone else's choices and not be tempted.

Today was fantastic. Oh, and when I brought him a bowl of ice cream in bed later on, I didn't eat any myself. Well, I did take one spoonful! I told him that I had to taste it to be sure no one poisoned it. haha!

This is only Day Four of my food journal and new eating well lifestyle but what a difference I feel. I recognize that I'm doing what I have done in the past which was to try to be perfect in my eating choices and scale back so much, so fast that it is unsustainable. Typically, I can go only three days so today is a critical day for me.

However, I am feeling really great and not deprived at all which was the reason I bailed in the past. The cravings and hunger were too much for me by Day Four.

It really helps that I am posting this journal online. And then, one good decision leads to another. Very empowering.

This Food Journal is a big help. I know after I started the exercise site fitness journal I felt very responsible to keep exercising. I didn't want to look like a loser to my supporters. Then I got into a habit and it is easier to stay on track.

Lori - this is awesome that you are hanging in there!

It is so true that reducing our stomach volume is a key to healthy eating. We should eat slowly, mindfully, until we are full. If we stuff ourselves then food is coming back up our esophagus which isn't good. And it makes the stomach expand meaning next time we eat we have to eat more before we can feel full.

If we go the opposite way - eating until we're just nicely full - our stomach will shrink down to accomodate that. And then we fill full more quickly. It's better all around.

Yes, I'm hanging in there! How amazing is that?!? For me?!? Even more incredible to me is how I am able to do this with all the temptations around. The thing is that we do eat out a lot, depending on our work and social calendar. I need to work on that but we are a foodie family who enjoys a meal out as an activity more than merely a meal.

April 20:
Breakfast-coffee with half and half and Splenda, cottage cheese w/ pineapple
Lunch-Kids' plate of grilled chicken, tabbouleh salad, shirai salad (kids' servings), 1/4 pita bread (lunch at the same Mediterranean grill at the mall because a friend hadn't tried it yet). I got the kids' plate FREE because of a special.
Snack-5 oz. Green Juice, five peanuts in shell
Dinner-Garlic edamame, ONE Cajun french fry, two bites of pesto chicken, Japanese cucumber salad and an Ahi Tuna patty lettuce wrapped instead of bun with Asian slaw condiment and a cosmo cocktail. Two handfuls of theater popcorn.

My husband wanted to go to Lazy Dog Cafe and a movie. They were running a dinner and a movie special so we got discounted theater tickets and saved $20. I consider this evening a triumph, especially compared to what I would have typically ordered and consumed: fried foods, pasta. The kids insisted I try the fries so I tasted one.

We have to stop buying the tub of popcorn at the theater because we waste so much of it. We eat only about a 2" layer of the 10" high tub. But the server always says, "You can get free refills." We don't need or want refills! My husband says, "It's only .50 cents more." But why throw away .50 along with all that popcorn? I used to save it to feed the gulls and ducks but wasn't sure how healthy it was for them with the salt and butter.