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There's nothing faddish about giving up "white stuff". I could easily live the rest of my life without eating white bread, white rice, white pasta, and potatoes. There are good, whole grain substitutes for all of these foods.
Nothing wrong with any of the white stuff so as long as one doesn't consume over their daily dietary limits. Often, the potato gets a bad rap because it's fried into chips or fries, or the baked potato is loaded down with butter, sour creme, and sometimes cheese. There are a lot of nutritional benefits to a potato.
It comes down to this, if you eat a white bagel in the morning, focus the rest of the day's diet needs on other areas of nutrition.
I've been slowly changing my eating and exercise lifestyle over the past four months. I mean SLOWLY, because I felt that if I didn't do it a little at a time, I wouldn't stick with it.
I've slowly replaced all refined, processed grains and sugars with organic, whole grains and natural sugars (and cut WAY back on the sugar and grains - WAAAAAYYYYYYY back - like one serving a day of grains and very minimal sugar).
I've replaced my oils with olive, grapeseed, and coconut oil. I use only real butter, raw milk, and I make my own "drinkable yogurt" (the swedish filmjolk) and make a smoothie out of that each morning, with fruit, rosewater, cardamom and local honey. OMG it's to DIE FOR!
For lunch or dinner (I interchange these - eat only one meat per day), I have a big fresh salad with dark leafy lettuce, usually with a chilled salad mix that I make with quinoa that I've let soak for 48 hours and shallots, cherry tomatoes, olives, feta cheese, olive oil, fresh lemon juice, and balsamic vinaigrette. That's also PACKED with flavor. Then for the other meal I have steamed veggies, sometimes a small baked sweet potato (with little or no butter - if you buy the asian sweet potatoes they don't even need SALT!), a boiled egg or small piece of chicken or fish or shrimp - that sort of thing.
I eat fruit whenever I want to - usually two or three pieces of fruit a day. I chill out in the evening with hot tea - I used to have a glass or two of wine every night, and I realized that I needed something that felt "special" and also relaxed me, so I made the switch to nice, loose herbal teas that are pretty, healthy, and smell and taste GREAT. Plus it's a little ritual to make a cup, so that also makes it feel like self-pampering! Besides being loaded with empty calories, I felt that two glasses of wine every other night or so was a bit much. Now I treat myself to a glass of wine rather than a margarita if we go out to eat - fewer calories and it really feels like a treat!
Amazingly, now that I've kicked the sugar habit, I have found that a very little bit goes a really long way. For instance, I went to a birthday party this weekend. I had a SLIVER of chocolate cake and a very small scoop (like two or three tablespoons) of ice cream. I was COMPLETELY satisfied - in the past I would have eaten two or three times that much.
I've made sure that I get at least 30 minutes of aerobic exercise a day, whether it's walking briskly, mowing the yard with a push mower, or going to the gym (actually my least favorite activity). Now I have a lot more energy to work in the garden, do vigorous housework, play with my grandkids, etc. I tore my achilles tendon two years ago and wore a cast for 8 months - that was a real setback and I lost a lot of muscle tone, but I'm getting it back!
A couple of weeks ago I hit a standstill, so I joined Weight Watchers and really began tracking my intake. That has been helpful. I'm only losing 1 pound a week average, but that's OK. I'm fifty, so I guess my metabolism is slowing down,
I have "only" lost 8 pounds so far but I've also lost 14 inches! Three inches in my chest, three in my waist, three in my BELLY and 1 1/2 in my hips (not really my trouble spot) and then smaller increments in my arms and legs.
Not sure if I'm doing everything right, but I feel FANTASTIC.
Oh, I am also VERY CAREFUL about what I eat when eating out. I track EVERYTHING and am very demanding when it comes to grilling people on how the food is prepared, and making sure they prepare mine as I prefer it. So far so good!
I also allow myself to cheat once a week - in a big way. The odd thing is, now after four months of eating so much more healthily, I rarely even use that "Free Pass." I'm pretty uninterested in the "bad stuff" now. I can't even believe I'm hearing myself say that! But I am truly not tempted by much of the stuff that caused me to gain 40 pounds (I have 32 pounds to go to my goal -that's definitely reachable!). I think my biggest issue was with fats and carbs - bread, pasta, cheese, butter, etc. I'm done with that stuff now! LOL Except for butter - I am big into natural foods vs synthetic, and I firmly believe that REAL butter and REAL cream, etc is best for me - just in small doses!
Nutrisystem. I went on this about 2 months ago. The SLOWEST diet of my entire life. In two months I lost 9 lbs..... I also don't exercise....I sit on the computer most of the day the run out to my car to show houses.....my exercise is walking to the car and back inside most times.
Still, I never exercised when I was younger (I'm 48) and went on diets in the past, weight watchers etc....
but this diet.....I didn't lose a lb for the first 3 weeks...but spent money on it so I had to follow through....then it was 2 lbs...then 4...etc up to 9lbs.
But my tummy is gone. My body is appearing again. My jeans fit again.....
bottom line is...if you stay away from flour and sugar you're going to lose your stomach.
You dont' need nutrisystem to do that or any diet in fact....
just stay away from "the White Stuff".....for a few months.....miracles happen! You may not lose lbs...but you'll change the shape of your body!
This is for guys especially who tend to put it on in that area most. Especially people in my age group!
Anyway, I'm not done yet....and I'm thinking I might have to get outside and walk around the school yard track a couple of times a week as soon as it stops raining if that EVER happens (NY).....
Happy Memorial Weekend Guys...stay away from the buns
and don't forget ALCOHOL. letting that go is the only thing that ever really works for me.
and don't forget ALCOHOL. letting that go is the only thing that ever really works for me.
Sigh. Really? I eat mostly healthy with a few cheats here and there and I exercise...but the belly doesn't want to go away and I go out drinking a lot. Not even getting drunk but two or three at happy hour or on the weekend. I don't want to give it up!
Sigh. Really? I eat mostly healthy with a few cheats here and there and I exercise...but the belly doesn't want to go away and I go out drinking a lot. Not even getting drunk but two or three at happy hour or on the weekend. I don't want to give it up!
But none of them taste as good baked in a casserole dish with two different kinds of cheddar cheese mixed in a roux of whole milk, butter, and flour, and topped with bread crumbs.
This is sooo true! My son loves casseroles of any kind - made with all of the ingredients names above (minus the cheddar chesse). Of course, he's a swimmer and can eat whatever he wants but I have to just take a tiny portion of said casserole.
Why is that? People for thousands of years have been eating flour and sugar without gaining weight....and today its magically the cure for obesity?
No, they haven't. They have not been eating it in the form and quantity that they do today.
Even a hundred years ago, people ate perhaps 10 pounds of sugar in a year. Now people eat half a pound A DAY.
Processed 'white food' is not only unhealthy in terms of insulin spikes/metabolic catastrophe, but it's usually devoid of any useful nutrition on top of that.
No, they haven't. They have not been eating it in the form and quantity that they do today.
Even a hundred years ago, people ate perhaps 10 pounds of sugar in a year. Now people eat half a pound A DAY.
Processed 'white food' is not only unhealthy in terms of insulin spikes/metabolic catastrophe, but it's usually devoid of any useful nutrition on top of that.
I don't know which people you're referring to, but I barely eat more than half a pound of -food- in a day, let alone half a pound of sugar.
I don't know which people you're referring to, but I barely eat more than half a pound of -food- in a day, let alone half a pound of sugar.
We're talking about the average population, and we're not just talking white table sugar, but the sugar found in processed carbs, condiments, sodas, candies, chocolates, etc, etc, etc, etc....
I've been slowly changing my eating and exercise lifestyle over the past four months. I mean SLOWLY, because I felt that if I didn't do it a little at a time, I wouldn't stick with it.
I've slowly replaced all refined, processed grains and sugars with organic, whole grains and natural sugars (and cut WAY back on the sugar and grains - WAAAAAYYYYYYY back - like one serving a day of grains and very minimal sugar).
I've replaced my oils with olive, grapeseed, and coconut oil. I use only real butter, raw milk, and I make my own "drinkable yogurt" (the swedish filmjolk) and make a smoothie out of that each morning, with fruit, rosewater, cardamom and local honey. OMG it's to DIE FOR!
For lunch or dinner (I interchange these - eat only one meat per day), I have a big fresh salad with dark leafy lettuce, usually with a chilled salad mix that I make with quinoa that I've let soak for 48 hours and shallots, cherry tomatoes, olives, feta cheese, olive oil, fresh lemon juice, and balsamic vinaigrette. That's also PACKED with flavor. Then for the other meal I have steamed veggies, sometimes a small baked sweet potato (with little or no butter - if you buy the asian sweet potatoes they don't even need SALT!), a boiled egg or small piece of chicken or fish or shrimp - that sort of thing.
I eat fruit whenever I want to - usually two or three pieces of fruit a day. I chill out in the evening with hot tea - I used to have a glass or two of wine every night, and I realized that I needed something that felt "special" and also relaxed me, so I made the switch to nice, loose herbal teas that are pretty, healthy, and smell and taste GREAT. Plus it's a little ritual to make a cup, so that also makes it feel like self-pampering! Besides being loaded with empty calories, I felt that two glasses of wine every other night or so was a bit much. Now I treat myself to a glass of wine rather than a margarita if we go out to eat - fewer calories and it really feels like a treat!
Amazingly, now that I've kicked the sugar habit, I have found that a very little bit goes a really long way. For instance, I went to a birthday party this weekend. I had a SLIVER of chocolate cake and a very small scoop (like two or three tablespoons) of ice cream. I was COMPLETELY satisfied - in the past I would have eaten two or three times that much.
I've made sure that I get at least 30 minutes of aerobic exercise a day, whether it's walking briskly, mowing the yard with a push mower, or going to the gym (actually my least favorite activity). Now I have a lot more energy to work in the garden, do vigorous housework, play with my grandkids, etc. I tore my achilles tendon two years ago and wore a cast for 8 months - that was a real setback and I lost a lot of muscle tone, but I'm getting it back!
A couple of weeks ago I hit a standstill, so I joined Weight Watchers and really began tracking my intake. That has been helpful. I'm only losing 1 pound a week average, but that's OK. I'm fifty, so I guess my metabolism is slowing down,
I have "only" lost 8 pounds so far but I've also lost 14 inches! Three inches in my chest, three in my waist, three in my BELLY and 1 1/2 in my hips (not really my trouble spot) and then smaller increments in my arms and legs.
Not sure if I'm doing everything right, but I feel FANTASTIC.
Oh, I am also VERY CAREFUL about what I eat when eating out. I track EVERYTHING and am very demanding when it comes to grilling people on how the food is prepared, and making sure they prepare mine as I prefer it. So far so good!
I also allow myself to cheat once a week - in a big way. The odd thing is, now after four months of eating so much more healthily, I rarely even use that "Free Pass." I'm pretty uninterested in the "bad stuff" now. I can't even believe I'm hearing myself say that! But I am truly not tempted by much of the stuff that caused me to gain 40 pounds (I have 32 pounds to go to my goal -that's definitely reachable!). I think my biggest issue was with fats and carbs - bread, pasta, cheese, butter, etc. I'm done with that stuff now! LOL Except for butter - I am big into natural foods vs synthetic, and I firmly believe that REAL butter and REAL cream, etc is best for me - just in small doses!
Darn you, you eat so dang healthy it makes me feel guilty! LOL! But good for you. I eat pretty good most of the time, but indulge in a few more treats than you do. Mainly, I do like 2 glasses of wine every evening around "happy hour" (4 - 6 p.m.) Like you, I haven't lost a lot of weight in this past year, but TONS of inches! Between eating better, and getting a LOT of "mixed" exercise the inches are melting away, and that is what really counts at the end of the day. People get too hung up on the scale, but the scale measures EVERYTHING, not just the fat so it's not totally reliable. I am going to continue what I am doing, because for me it is sustainable, and at the end of the day we all have to be able to continue a diet and exercise program long term without feeling deprived or resenting it.
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