Thursday, March 12, 2009

The 4 bite rule

Have you ever heard of the "4 bite rule"? The first 4 bites of anything, even steak or shrimp, always taste the best...from then on, it's nothing special...just finishing up, but your t buds have gotten used to the treat. So when you do go off the wagon, thry to eat only 4 bites and throw the rest away...you've already gotten the best "mouth feel and taste" that you were craving

Also, before you give in to a weakness, drink water. Are you still drinking 8 glasses a day?
Love S


That might work with burger & fries. The next time I weaken I'll try it. I know it won't work with sweets. I can't stop eating them if I have just a few bites. That's why there's not a sweet thing in the house.

Love you, B.


There's another thing you can try when you have a craving...brush your teeth. For some reason people don't feel like eating right after brushing their teeth.

Send me some suggestions, maybe your favorite meals

Love S


That sounds like it might work. On Sat my craving was not so much about hunger as it was about being mad at mama. Taking care of her is sooooooo stressful. But I was only hurting myself .

PIZZA

Love B


French Bread has very little fat. Slice 4 rounds, spread with my spaghetti sauce and a VERRY little bit of parmesan cheese. broil. This should get you past the worst cravings.

No loss today. And I didn't eat hardly anything all day. Grrrrrrrrrr!
Love B

You have got to keep your metabolisim working. If you don't eat enough, your body thinks it is starving and will hold on the EVERYTHING you eat and turn it to fat.

Love S

Yes, I've read that before I think. Thanks for not being mad at me.
Love, B.


Mad doesn't get us any where and she wins.
Metabolisim is the reason I keep telling you to eat at least 1/2 cup of something healthy every 3 hr. It keeps your M working at all times and when you are feeling FORCED to eat something every 3 hours, you won't have so many cravings.
Love S


I know you don't like to go into detail about your weight, food consumption etc. but the more info you give me the better answers I can give you.

And if you could put yourself on a schedule, you might be able to focus better.
At least make a list and check off the things you do each day......pleasssssssse?
Maybe:
Weigh In
# Prunes
Hot green tea
Chat with me
Water
Breakfast
Exercise
Water
BM
Healthy Snack
Exercise
Water
Lunch
Exercise
Water
Dinner
Water
FF Yogurt
Prunes
Get 8 hr sleep.................that's important too!!

Love S



I HATE schedules, but I see what you mean. I'll start drinking the 8 glasses of water, but I can't really start exercises until my knee surgery.

Well, either my expensive scales have gone up or something strange is happening with my body.
weight up .4 lbs
body fat down 4% from when I last took it on Feb 25
visceral fat down 1 point
body water up 1%

Yesterday I had 1 egg and dry toast for bkfst, 1/2 pbj sandwich w/grapes for lunch, your soup(which is delicious) for dinner and snacks of carrots, banana, 2 pieces of whole wheat toast.

I guess I'll have to make a new form and keep track of all the stuff my scales tells me but I don't think I should be gaining with what I'm eating. The scales says I should have 3446 calories a day to maintain my current weight. I know I'm having max of 1500-1800 cal.

I'll give it a few more days then I'm going to call the company.

I have not had a bm in 2 days in spite of eating prunes. Today should be the day for a good one.

Enough talk about shit.

Love B



I don't understand either. Did you get weighed at your doctor's the other day? If you were doing exercise, I'd say it was because muscle weighs more than fat.
3,440 calories is rediculously high for losing weight...maintaining is more like it. For losing, it should be 1200 to 1600 max.

The egg is 6 grams fat, the pb depends on how much, but at least it is good fat. Maybe you should set up a chart of grams and calories intake too. Do you have a good book? I know a place on line that has charts for both...I'll look it up and send it to you...just mark them "favorites" and you'll be able to click on them in a flash.

EAT ASPARAGUS and other diuretics.

The most important things in losing weight are: attidude(don't let mom get to you), metabolism (eat little healthy meals every 3 hr), exercise (whenever you can with your bad knee...thought of any chair exercises? Even starting at 15 min a day would help), Fat/calorie intake (eggs are bad for your heart as well as your waistline), start a chart of EVERYTHING including attitude for morning, noon and night, AND a daily BM...the longer food stays in your intestines, the longer your body has to draw out and store the fat and if your metab is low, your body will grab everything you eat including carbs, sugar etc. and turn it into fat in order to be able to store it.
Love S


What did you have for dinner last night. If you don't tell me what you had, I can't check it off the "sent" list. That's how I know what you have left in your freezer.
What's for dinner tonight?
I've found that if I eat 2 prunes every night before bed, they have time to work their way through all the stuff in my system and don't cause the problems you mentioned.
If I eat them in the morning, my normal activity works them through too quickly thru the center of the intestines causing gas and runs when I go. Because they go thru so quickly, they don't work on the sludge on the walls of the intestines.
We have GOT to figure out a way to keep you on track.
Love S

Monday, March 2, 2009

Jan emails

Hi folks,
I'm going to try to leave out the boring stuff, so let me know if I 'not' succeeding.
I have deleted here actually weight reports and only including amount lost to keep her actual weight a secret. I wouldn't want my weight broadcast over the internet.
You'll notice from the first emails, she didn't really know how to eat to lose weight.

From: B
Here is my first day's report. Send me a list of foods I'll need to get and I'll find them in PA.
Day 1. Breakfast: Small ham & cheese omelet, dry wheat toast. 1:30 raw carrots & 1 low fat string cheese. I’ll have apple/orange for another snack. Homemade vegie soup tonight for supper w/maybe a grilled cheese sandwich. Not completely no fat but close. Will go grocery shopping tonight or tomorrow (it's an hour away) and be better prepared. Got the new scales; very techie; will weigh tomorrow after figuring out how they work.
Love, B

From: B
I know you told me not to go out to restaurants at first until I figure out what I should & shouldn't order, but mom loves to go out for breakfast and I usuallly have oatmeal and juice or coffee.



Hi B,
I just got home yesterday. Will be shipping the first box UPS tomorrow ground with lots of dry ice and a list of all meals sent. Whatever doesn't fit in your freezer can thaw in your fridge.

I would rather you use an extra dinner for lunch, than cook something for yourself that you think is 'close' to low fat but is high in fat...eggs, ham & cheese are all high fat. Please ask the restaurant how they fix the oatmeal and do they put butter in it?????

Please keep this email (you may want to start a Meal file for these emails)

Let me know if you have any reguests or if I send something you don't want to receive any more of ( & no you will not hurt my feelings). Always thaw in big bowls. Sometimes the corners get chipped up once they are frozen, from kicking around in my freezer. Do not nuke the glad containers.
I need to know what FF items you can buy from the 2 big stores that are 1 hour away so I won't take up space in the cooler with those...i.e...low fat, whole wheat pastas, no yolks pasta noodles, fat free whole wheat pitas, low fat whole wheat grain bread, low fat whole wheat burger buns, ff saltine crackers. I know you can get good FF dressing.
White breads, white rice and sugar are NOT on this diet. I now use Splenda in my green tea, hot or cold
I don't know how much to partially cook the meals in order for you to be able to put the dinners in the microwave frozen. So you must take them out each morning, so they will only need minimum nuking to heat thru...nuking enough to thaw would make them waaaaaay over cooked and dry and tasteless.
I tried different ways to separate the sauce/gravy/broth from the rice/pot/pasta so the starch wouldn't be mushy or the meal like soup by the time it is cooked. I'll need your feedback to know what works best for future preparation.
I am sending several dinners of the ones I think you'll like most. Each package serves 2. Here is a list of dinners in this first cooler:
Morrocan Veggies & Brown Rice

Fiet mignon, mashed potatoes & gravy, with peas

Thanksgiving dinners with various sides

Prime Rib, m potatoes, gravy & veggies

Teriyaki Chicken, brown rice and snow peas

Various chicken 'birds'. rolled up with veggies inside, broth
(you can add about 1 T cornstarch to broth & heat up and pour over 'birds')

Steak Burgers (steak totally defatted &ground up by me!! You fry.
...............lettuce, tom, onions, NO cheese .... Make a salad

Steak Pinwheels: UNCOOKED Thaw the night before. The next a.m. place in slow cooker beside 2 potatoes, 4 carrots, 1 onion all chopped, pour 2 cans of stewed tomatoes, s & p, cook low 8 hr. slice into pinwheels

Stuffed Bell Peppers, UNCOOKED cook the same as Steak Pinwheels, leaving out the potato, carrots Serve on Spaghetti Squash I provide

Stuffed Cabbage, UNCOOKED, Same stuff bell peppers Serve w Green Beans I provide

Hummus Dips: just thaw, no cooking. I'm sending FF wh wheat pitas the first time, Let me know if your big store has them. Make a salad.

Chicken, m pot, gravy, peas

Meatloaf, M Potatoes, Gravy, green beans

Curry Sauce w Brown Rice make a salad

Chicken Florentine, rice, corn broth ... thicken broth w cornstarch slurry, pour over

Chicken Gumbo: pile a mound of hot brown rice in center of bowl, pour gumbo over

Lazagna: wraped individually in plastic, then wrapped 2 together in plastic make a BIG salad

The bag of Spaghetti Sauce is enough for 4.

Love & Merry Christmas,
The Elder Ting Ting a Linger
S

From B:
The restruant doesn't put butter in the oatmeal, I asked. Sometimes I eat at home before we go, sometimes there.

Can't figure out these scales yet.
For some reason I was starving all day yesterday. Real hunger - - not the stomach upset I had from too much Ibuprofin for my knee. I managed not to eat too much but I did have 2 whole wheat bagels at 2 different times. The scales in town say I've lost 4 lbs this first week, but I bet most of that is water weight.
Love B

Hi B,
It is not good to starve yourself. It's best to eat 5 or 6 small healthy meals spaced 2.5 to 3 hr apart. That will keep your metabolism up and running which is key for losing weight. What exercises are you doing?

Sometimes you can't trust what a waitress tells you.
Love S

Hi B,
Here's a good recipe to go with the Curry dinner I sent (no cooking, I know)
3 carrots grated
3 T raisins (or 4)
1/2 c FF peach yogurt.....toss all together
Love S

Remember to save some of the Spag Sauce for the Stuffed bell peppers. You just place them in a 8x8 dish, spoon sauce over and bake. There are 2 steak burgers just thrown in
Love S

From B:
No exercise yet, my knee has been really acting up bad. The mashed potatoes are not coming thru very good. They have a funny consistency.
Don't send any more and I'll make them fresh here.

I have a pretty good relationship with this waitress, we do crosswords while mom eats.
The joys of a tiny town.
Love B

Ok, but please use this recipe for Guilt Free Gourmet Mashed Potatoes
Boil peeled potatoes, in chunks, drain
Mash with salt & pepper and a little skim milk.

Here's how to make almost FF gravy:
1 c boiling water
add 1 large Knoor Chicken or Beef cube and 1 large Knoor Veggie Bouillon cube to dissolve
Mix 1 T cornstarch w 3 T cold water well, add to hot broth, boil 'till thickened.

Love S


Gained back 1/2 lb. I have to admit that Mom wanted to go out to eat last night and we did. I had liver, rice (no gravy) salad bar (no dressings) and coffee. The liver had onions and bacon. I didn't eat the bacon but the liver was fried. I only ate half and brought the other half home fo mom to eat tonight. It was delicious but not enough to gain back 1/2 lb.

I find myself craving fat - fried foods, cheeses, etc. Not craving sweets at all which is wonderful! ! ! My next "splurge" will be to go to PA and have a pizza. I'm dying for one. There is one place in town that has pizza but they are not good.

Had a wonderful storm early this am. No thunder/lightening but hard rain and wind.

I'll have a good day today, I can feel it. Don't know what I'll have for dinner. I'll look in the freezer and pick something. How nice. Thank you sooooo much for doing this for me. I couldn't do it without you.

Love B.


The longer you go without sweets, the less your body will want. The same goes for fats but unfortunately it takes much longer
Love S

Hi B,
Let's chat at 9:30 your time which will be 12:30 my time. Can you sit in a straight back chair and do excercises...maybe toe touches? or sit on the floor with your back to the sofa and do them. Also maybe use liters of water a weights for doing arm exercises.
Love S


Hi B,
What did you have for dinner last night? How many Moraccan Veggie dinners did I send?

Love S

From B:
We had the roast beef last night. I only saw one moraccan vegie bag.

Love B.


From B:
Didn't lose anything today. Not discouraged. I know this is going to be a long haul. I'm making up a few exercises I can do without standing or bending my knees. I'll do them at C's with R. She'll like that. C will take some pictures of me in a bathing suit.
Love B.

Hi B,
I can't be here for our chat, but should be home by 1:30 or soon after. My fingers are crossed for you.
Love S

From B:
Finally figured out these scales. Will compare them to the ones in town. Will let you know
Love B

From B:
The ones in town were right on.
Lost .2 lb today. Sometimes it seems it will take forever. Discouragement lurks its' ugly head...Now Make no mistake - - I'll fight it. I know this is going to be a long haul.
Love B

we had the roast beef that I bought last night. Yes I got the pinwheel and I only saw one moraccan vegie bag.
Love B

Hi B:
Steak Pinwheels look like a rolled up steak until cooked and sliced)
Love S

We've got to figure out a way for you to exercise or you are right...this will take forever. You can easily double your daily weight loss if you exercises. I know you hate it, I do too, but it would help a LOT
Love S

From B:
OK OK I'll think about. Gained 1 lb today. Don't know why.
Love B

Hi B,
Did you get the box of whole wheat pastas and individually wrapped prunes I sent? I love prunes and you really need to get a move on daily. :~) Every 3 days is NOT GOOD !!!
The prunes in the larger bag are just as good.
Love S

From B:
Yes and I love them. Not like those old dried out ones when we were young. But that's an expensive way to buy them. Maybe I'll buy a big bag of them.
Love B


That was the point. I just wanted to somehow get you eating them.
You sent me back the colon cleanser so I had to get you to try something else.

Do you like pulled BBQ sandwiches
Love S


Yum Yum YES
Love B


OK
I can make them extremely low fat. Here's a recipe for low fat cole slaw
(have you found the jar of roasted red bell peppers in the store yet? Remember you have to add some of that juice to the FF mayo to make the FF mayo taste good)
1/4 head cabbage, shredded
1/2 carrot, shredded
1 or 2 strips of roasted red bell pepper, chopped
2 or 3 T FF mayo
1 or 2 t juice from the peppers....................toss all
s & p
please be sure to eat the bbq I send on a whole grain bun.

Love S


Is it possible to gain 3 lbs in 2 days? I broke down and had a burger & fries. How disappointing. I know some of it is water. My last BM was Saturday. I'm going to take a water pill and eat prunes.
Love B


Where id you get the b & f?
Love S


Right here in good old F at the coffee shop...and it wasn't even that good. I'm so mad at myself.
Love B