chemgeek Posted November 19, 2018 Report Share Posted November 19, 2018 This challenge is a nutrition one. I have my core routines added in and I largely stayed on track there. I have been getting fluffy because I thought I had internalized good portions well enough not to overeat by habit. I thought wrong. CONSTANT VIGILANCE! Evidently that is what I need cuz the moment I stop watching my diet carefully I start eating like a chronically ill kid with a BMR of 3500cal again and inflate like a ballon. It is a thing. A fixable thing. My goal this challenge is to fix it. I will fix it by watching my portion sizes and losing 10 lbs (2lbs/wk for a 5 wk challenge. Healthy pace). I will do all of the following which has traditionally helped me to eat good portions and de-fluffify: 1. Eat out no more than once every 2 weeks (unless work travel is a thing, in which case, eat only from healthy places and take time to check nutrition info). Make home made freezer meals /tomato sauce for nights when I know I will be too damn tired to cook. I am allowed to be tired. I am not allowed to use tired as an excuse to grab fast food. Especially since I don't even like fast food. 2. Nothing sweet or junky unless I made it myself, from scratch (this means I have to want the sweet or junk enough to invest 1-2 hours or more making it, works better for me than a hard frequency limit - mobilize the lazy factor for good). When I use this system I have sweets about once a month. If I set a frequency limit I break it every time. 3. Weigh proteins and starches. 4. At least 2 servings of veggies with each meal. At least 1 with every snack. 5. 1 12-oz glass of water or uncaffeinated unsweetened herbal tea (it is winter I will make allowances for hot drinks) with each meal. 6. See a nutritionist again and then resume meal planning (having a pro smack my hand over how I have been eating - professionally, mind you - is often the kick in the arse I need). 7. No snacks not planned for. 8. No eating while gaming or the TV is on. 9. No eating in the hour prior to a planned meal. If I am that hungry, just move the meal sooner. 10. Make more clear soups. 11. Meal planning. All day every day. 3 Quote Link to comment
chemgeek Posted November 21, 2018 Author Report Share Posted November 21, 2018 Meal plan for accountability: Breakfast: 10g hemp hearts 10g chia seeds 50g granola 80g mixed berries 175g milk Coffee and milk Lunch Curry containing 160g pumpkin puree 30g onion 80g cooking greens 125g cooked rice 50g chicken thigh 100g yellow split peas Supper 105 g pork potstickers 90g cooking greens 150g cooked noodles Snacks: two of: Unsalted cashews and a banana Veggie salad Carrot sticks Plain yogurt and berries. Quote Link to comment
Mistr Posted November 21, 2018 Report Share Posted November 21, 2018 On 11/19/2018 at 7:07 AM, chemgeek said: My goal this challenge is to fix it. I will fix it by watching my portion sizes and losing 10 lbs (2lbs/wk for a 5 wk challenge. Healthy pace). I will do all of the following which has traditionally helped me to eat good portions and de-fluffify: 1. Eat out no more than once every 2 weeks (unless work travel is a thing, in which case, eat only from healthy places and take time to check nutrition info). Make home made freezer meals /tomato sauce for nights when I know I will be too damn tired to cook. I am allowed to be tired. I am not allowed to use tired as an excuse to grab fast food. Especially since I don't even like fast food. 2. Nothing sweet or junky unless I made it myself, from scratch (this means I have to want the sweet or junk enough to invest 1-2 hours or more making it, works better for me than a hard frequency limit - mobilize the lazy factor for good). When I use this system I have sweets about once a month. If I set a frequency limit I break it every time. ^^^^^^^These are great I try to do both of these things too. On 11/19/2018 at 7:07 AM, chemgeek said: 3. Weigh proteins and starches. I admire you for doing this. I balk at the idea of weighing all my food. On 11/19/2018 at 7:07 AM, chemgeek said: 7. No snacks not planned for. Excellent point. I would do well to implement that too. I struggle with the frequent treats at work. Between birthdays, work anniversaries and holidays, we have treats about twice a week. I can easily resist the commercial candy and cookies. Homemade baked goods are another story. Quote Level 73 Viking paladin My current challenge Battle log Link to comment
sarakingdom Posted November 21, 2018 Report Share Posted November 21, 2018 32 minutes ago, Mistr said: I admire you for doing this. I balk at the idea of weighing all my food. As a scientist, one ought, on principle, to cook in metric by weight rather than volume. From there, it's a pretty easy step to data collection. Quote I felt like I could run forever, like I could smell the wind and feel the grass under my feet, and just run forever. Current Challenge: #24 - Mrs. Cosmopolite Challenge Past: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11a & #11b, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19, #20, #21, #22, #23 Link to comment
Mistr Posted November 21, 2018 Report Share Posted November 21, 2018 12 minutes ago, sarakingdom said: As a scientist, one ought, on principle, to cook in metric by weight rather than volume. From there, it's a pretty easy step to data collection. In practice, most of my cooking is by proportion rather than by either weight or volume. Four parts kale, 1 part onion, 1 part bacon, 0.1 part cider vinegar, 0.1 part brown sugar. Scaleable for different batch sizes. I am more precise in baking and desserts. Those I could weigh. Quote Level 73 Viking paladin My current challenge Battle log Link to comment
sarakingdom Posted November 21, 2018 Report Share Posted November 21, 2018 Quote I felt like I could run forever, like I could smell the wind and feel the grass under my feet, and just run forever. Current Challenge: #24 - Mrs. Cosmopolite Challenge Past: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11a & #11b, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19, #20, #21, #22, #23 Link to comment
sarakingdom Posted November 21, 2018 Report Share Posted November 21, 2018 1 hour ago, Mistr said: In practice, most of my cooking is by proportion rather than by either weight or volume. Four parts kale, 1 part onion, 1 part bacon, 0.1 part cider vinegar, 0.1 part brown sugar. Scaleable for different batch sizes. Are you, by chance, a chemist? Because the chemist's method is dipping your finger in and tasting the solution to see what the reaction produced. Quote I felt like I could run forever, like I could smell the wind and feel the grass under my feet, and just run forever. Current Challenge: #24 - Mrs. Cosmopolite Challenge Past: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11a & #11b, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19, #20, #21, #22, #23 Link to comment
chemgeek Posted November 21, 2018 Author Report Share Posted November 21, 2018 I am a chemist by training. Materials chemistry. Plz don't taste the science. It might burn your tongue off. :p Quote Link to comment
sarakingdom Posted November 21, 2018 Report Share Posted November 21, 2018 2 hours ago, chemgeek said: I am a chemist by training. Materials chemistry. Plz don't taste the science. It might burn your tongue off. :p I didn't say it was a wise method. Quote I felt like I could run forever, like I could smell the wind and feel the grass under my feet, and just run forever. Current Challenge: #24 - Mrs. Cosmopolite Challenge Past: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11a & #11b, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19, #20, #21, #22, #23 Link to comment
chemgeek Posted November 24, 2018 Author Report Share Posted November 24, 2018 Today's breakfast: Banana Granola (45g) Milk Planned lunch 1 slice whole wheat bread Chopped tomato Spinach Hardboiled egg Shredded cheese Roasted broccoli (Open faced bruschetta and egg melt) Planned supper: Coconut red lentil dal(recipe to be posted) Quote Link to comment
Mistr Posted November 25, 2018 Report Share Posted November 25, 2018 On 11/21/2018 at 12:05 PM, sarakingdom said: Are you, by chance, a chemist? Because the chemist's method is dipping your finger in and tasting the solution to see what the reaction produced. I am a biochemist. I remember when I took Organic Synthesis, the professor told us that the TA's nose was more sensitive than the analytical equipment we were using, but we were not allowed to use the results in our lab reports. The TA could tell us if we had messed up so we didn't waste more time confirming it. 1 1 Quote Level 73 Viking paladin My current challenge Battle log Link to comment
ChrisWithaStick Posted November 25, 2018 Report Share Posted November 25, 2018 This challenge is a good reminder for me, actually. I have similar issues around portion size and needing to be mindful, especially with dinners. 14 hours ago, chemgeek said: Coconut red lentil dal(recipe to be posted) And I'm also here for the recipes. Quote Human | Plays with Sticks | Monkish Leanings | Rangerish Overtones Occasionally Updated Facebook Link to comment
chemgeek Posted November 26, 2018 Author Report Share Posted November 26, 2018 20 hours ago, ChrisWithaStick said: This challenge is a good reminder for me, actually. I have similar issues around portion size and needing to be mindful, especially with dinners. And I'm also here for the recipes. Recipe is posted in the kitchen. My fav part is that it was almost no work. 2 Quote Link to comment
chemgeek Posted November 28, 2018 Author Report Share Posted November 28, 2018 Did the dietician thing. Was good. Dietician was all looooool you eat balanced meals and get enough veggies you are like 90%there so yay. 3 Quote Link to comment
chemgeek Posted November 29, 2018 Author Report Share Posted November 29, 2018 Portion contol saga: did an experiment packing my lunch. I systematically overestimate sevings of protein and starch and underestimate servings of veg. Cheese I am pretty close to bang on (I eyeballed 30g and measured it as 27g. Not too shabby considering I was off by 40-70% low for veg and high by 40-50% for proteins and close to 100% for starch). Thar's yer problem. Lesson learned. Measure ALL THE THINGS. If my eyeball measure is consistently off, I have been eating about 30%-60% more calories than I thought I was in meals, depending on the meal. It is surprising I didn't gain weight faster, honestly. Quote Link to comment
Mistr Posted November 29, 2018 Report Share Posted November 29, 2018 2 hours ago, chemgeek said: Lesson learned. Measure ALL THE THINGS. If my eyeball measure is consistently off, I have been eating about 30%-60% more calories than I thought I was in meals, depending on the meal. It is surprising I didn't gain weight faster, honestly. Fascinating. Some foods are deceptively nutrient dense. You may have already seen this visual guide: https://www.wisegeek.com/what-does-200-calories-look-like.htm 1 Quote Level 73 Viking paladin My current challenge Battle log Link to comment
chemgeek Posted November 29, 2018 Author Report Share Posted November 29, 2018 Yeah. My big issue is that I don't know what a serving looks like. But my scale is happy to teach me. Quote Link to comment
chemgeek Posted November 30, 2018 Author Report Share Posted November 30, 2018 Today per dieticians reccommendation: Breakfast 55g cereal 80g fresh raspberries 180g milk Snack 25g cashews 2 teeny mandarin oranges (teeny-tiny. About the size of a ping pong ball). Lunch 170g butternut squash 85g kale 85g edamame Snack 30g cheese 170g carrots Supper: 4oz beef 85g bell pepper 45g onion 40g carrots 45g bean sprouts 40g kale 1 serving rice (90g dry weight) 1tsp sesame oil Evening Snack TBD. Gonna bake hemp muffins and am short on reccommended carb & protein so 1 of those probably... 1 Quote Link to comment
ChrisWithaStick Posted December 1, 2018 Report Share Posted December 1, 2018 I'd probably do a happy dance in the office if a dietician told me I was 90% there. That's actually pretty cool, thinking about it. 1 Quote Human | Plays with Sticks | Monkish Leanings | Rangerish Overtones Occasionally Updated Facebook Link to comment
sarakingdom Posted December 1, 2018 Report Share Posted December 1, 2018 Why oh why does it take so long to grow kale? I have such simple needs in life. *steals all your kale* Quote I felt like I could run forever, like I could smell the wind and feel the grass under my feet, and just run forever. Current Challenge: #24 - Mrs. Cosmopolite Challenge Past: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11a & #11b, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19, #20, #21, #22, #23 Link to comment
chemgeek Posted December 1, 2018 Author Report Share Posted December 1, 2018 9 hours ago, ChrisWithaStick said: I'd probably do a happy dance in the office if a dietician told me I was 90% there. That's actually pretty cool, thinking about it. Yeah. She kindof was a little confused because I seemed to already have my nutrition stuff figured out. Which is a first for me. Her coaching basically amounted to snack more, skip meals less and do all the things you ID'd already. I have worked REAL HARD to be the only one in the extended family who isn't obese and lives a healthy lifestyle. I worked real hard to overcome both genetic, past lifestyle and personal history predispositions to being obese. I am gratified to have someone else recognize it. 9 hours ago, sarakingdom said: Why oh why does it take so long to grow kale? I have such simple needs in life. *steals all your kale* where I live you can get frozen kale which is best kale this time of year. We already have half a foot of snow on the ground. 1 Quote Link to comment
sarakingdom Posted December 1, 2018 Report Share Posted December 1, 2018 5 minutes ago, chemgeek said: where I live you can get frozen kale which is best kale this time of year. We already have half a foot of snow on the ground. Kale one of those magical plants that doesn't really mind being frozen in the garden. It laughs at half a foot of snow, and waits patiently to be picked. So I, too, would be turning to frozen kale in an ideal world. I can occasionally find organic kale in the store, which is nice, but blows my grocery budget a little. And it's only sometimes there, which I can't comprehend. I come from a kale-loving region. We were buried in kale. What is this strange scarcity? (I swear, it's genuinely lack of kale that has driven me to gardening. I'm so not a gardener. But I need kale.) Quote I felt like I could run forever, like I could smell the wind and feel the grass under my feet, and just run forever. Current Challenge: #24 - Mrs. Cosmopolite Challenge Past: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11a & #11b, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19, #20, #21, #22, #23 Link to comment
chemgeek Posted December 1, 2018 Author Report Share Posted December 1, 2018 our low last week was -18C. Kale is hardy but not that hardy I think XD 1 Quote Link to comment
sarakingdom Posted December 2, 2018 Report Share Posted December 2, 2018 6 hours ago, chemgeek said: our low last week was -18C. Kale is hardy but not that hardy I think XD I think some varieties are, like Russian kale, but not the one I'm growing. I have the other problem. Our high last week was in the mid-70s, so you can imagine the summers. 1 Quote I felt like I could run forever, like I could smell the wind and feel the grass under my feet, and just run forever. Current Challenge: #24 - Mrs. Cosmopolite Challenge Past: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11a & #11b, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19, #20, #21, #22, #23 Link to comment
chemgeek Posted December 5, 2018 Author Report Share Posted December 5, 2018 New phone is new. Getting used to it. So far I like the longer battery life. Vacation is a lot of catching up on sleep so far. Will start on my project tomorrow. Also: jealous of the heat. I get Raynaud's so winter is painful. Quote Link to comment
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