Pumpkin asked me what I am eating, the quick answer is "about half of what I was".
But that would not only be a bit rude but of no help whatsoever.
I have cut down to 2 meals a day, I was only eating toast at breakfast time to take my meds. I found that once I had eaten that I was feeling hungry after about 2 hours and would often carry on snacking all day.
Now I have a meal around 12:30 - 1:00, low on carbs and high on veg. My rice salad has at least double the amount of veg to rice, I also add a fair amount of protein in the form of pulses or use Quinoa in place of rice. I have a cereal dish of this and drizzle some balsamic vinegar over it.
In the evening I eat somewhere around 7:00, this meal I like to add carbs to but keep the fats to a minimum. It can be Vegan, Vegetarian and have eggs or a be meat based meal depending on what I fancy or have in. I still make up at least half the meal with veg or salad.
Sometimes I cut the carbs right out and have a small pudding.
I like to eat 3 pieces of fruit a day, if not I will cut a small carrot and a stick of celery into batons and eat those. I also like to have a dish of baby plum or cherry tomatoes in the kitchen and will have one when passing. It feels like a treat as at room temperature they are sweet.
Really it all comes down to How Much and of What. A small bag of crisps, a bottle of pop and a small bar of chocolate will do nothing for you at all, just empty calories.
Swap those out for a dish of chopped salady things with some beans, a piece of fruit and a cup of tea or coffee or a glass of sugar free squash or plain tap water and you are on the right track.
Next time you shop have a look at the "diet" food, read ingredient lists and get ideas. I use lots of herbs and spices as I like them and many are beneficial. Tomato ketchup may contain salt and sugar but also has good properties and a dollop stirred into a cold pasta or rice salad gives it an extra level of flavour. That doesn't mean use half the bottle, a couple of teaspoons full will do.
Before I had to reduce my dairy intake I would make a big smoothie with of a pint skimmed milk, a scoop of porridge oats (not instant) a banana and some red berries, frozen or fresh. Whizzed up I would have a glass in the morning and one at lunchtime. Quick and healthy and surprisingly filling.
A tub of carrot, celery, apple and red onion all chopped up can be snacked on or added to a bowl of leaves as a meal. A FEW pumpkin and sunflower seeds give some crunch.
It is all a case of "suck it and see", we are all different, my lunch would have Francesca feeling nauseous and turning green.
That concludes the lesson for today. I hope that you find an eating plan that helps Pumpkin, have a trawl round the internet, there is a myriad of information at your fingertips.
Yesterday was a lovely sunny day, some knitting yay, some sewing yay, some housework duh, some gardening and pottering Yay.
The SO was at a loose end so I now have two very smart wooden gates and the old mismatched ones have been recycled. One has been turned into a work bench for the head gardener, that'l be me then. The other will become an extension of a fence, soon I am informed.
I have knitted 6 extra lace rows onto my shawl and still have plenty of yarn left. I will knit the garter stitch border and add to that and then perhaps do a picot bind off. Any yarn left will go into one of the scrap jars and at some point I will make a start on a scrappy something or other. At the moment the 4 ply leftovers look pretty on my shelves.
Lunch was tomatoes, a small piece of nettle cheese (from the food festival) and a slice of bread.
Dinner will be a chopped salad with cold meat and new potatoes from the garden.
I picked more strawberries and added them to the salad, they give a different note and a little bit of black pepper really livens them up.
I told you that I wanted to learn to knit with stretch fabrics and was going to do a charity shop hunt for garments to hack.
Well, I had an email from a long time follower who very kindly offered to send me some scraps to play with. These scraps have arrived and there is a multitude of various weights and amount of stretch. I have set myself a play date on Wednesday. I am really looking forward to it.
We had rain overnight again but it should clear and be a decent day again. Wednesday is supposed to be reasonably hot but I will be sewing in the cool, I just need to clear the debris from my sewing cabinet. I have been going through some of the scrap bins and there are a few heaps of fabric that need pressing, folding and tucking away again.
I am off now to drink my tea and do a row or three on the shawl.
TTFN Pam
Hi pam thankyou for the tips I will do some research and see what I can find looking forward to hearing what you do with the stretchy fabrics xx
ReplyDeleteNo probs, have you asked for advice from your doctors surgery or the hospital. There are specialist people who can work with you to put an eating plan together.
DeleteYour meals and healthy snacks sound wonderful. It's so true that if you're cutting calories, what you do actually eat needs to be very tasty, interesting and satisfying.
ReplyDeletePersonally I had a terrible mega wobble (earthquake more like!)yesterday afternoon. I got so tempted by the grandkids sweetie tub that I raided it - 2 kit kats, milky bar, mini oreos and a large bag of peanut M&Ms - all gone in half an hour.
Feeling disgusted this morning! Back on the wagon I go immediately - will check for any lurking rubbish and bin it!!
We all have wobbles, just put it behind you and look forward. Perhaps you need to add a sweet treat into your meal plan. The more you try to remove certain things the more you want them. It is only the once so just leave at the once.
DeleteWhy is everyone blogging about their weight, surely thus is personal information and of no interest to others, really strange.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, you are really strange. Haven't you heard, obesity is approaching epidemic proportions. Anything that anyone writes about healthy eating, exercising, and weight loss helps others who are trying to achieve the same goals. Sharing this information is called being part of the community, if you don't like it then hop off.
DeleteIf you take the time to read the posts properly you might realise that it is all about Encouragement and Support. This is much the same as any Slimming Group, the main difference is A. It is free and B. This is by and large a friendly community. Negative comments and thinly disguised barbs do no harm to anyone but the writer. In fact they can serve as a boost to carry on with determination.
ReplyDeleteNettle cheese? That sounds interesting.
ReplyDeleteI'll be very interested to see how you get on with the stretch fabrics. There are so many beautiful ones around and I would love to have a go but I'm a bit scared of them to be honest. There are a couple of lengths in my stash so I suppose I should just cut a bit off and have a go-x-
Don't do that, I will send you some of my gift, there was an amazing selection.
DeleteThere are so many wonderful bloggers, how amazing to get some of the stretchy fabric you need for you next project. I am looking forward to hearing all about it. I have never come across nettle cheese before, sounds interesting.
ReplyDeleteThis is such a supportive community, a global village really.
DeleteI'm fascinated by how different people lose weight. I've been reading articles about new research indicating weight is affected by the unique mix of gut bacteria each person has. It took me a year to find the foods that work best for me and lower my blood sugar. I eat mainly cheese, eggs, meat, and nuts with small servings of a few kinds of fruits and veggies. Thank goodness I never aspired to be vegan or vegetarian. Weight loss was a bonus I hadn't expected.
ReplyDeleteIt just underlines he fact that we are all different. There is a school of thought that diet should be linked to blood type.
DeleteI really need to eat healthier snacks, saying this after I just finished an ice cream sandwich. So hot here (35 C) that I was craving something cold.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
AN Ice cream sandwich is not the end of the world, three a day would be a different matter.
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