Starting Small

[ChirpyBird]

Here is my four week challenge to start today!

 

1. No extra spending

 

2. Eat smaller portions

 

3. Pay off the two loans that are almost done

 

4. Go for a 15+ minute walk after dinner every single day.

 

If you have read my other posts or my NF character bio, I don't have much to choose from when it comes to working out due to health issues, but I want to get around that so badly. I have to start small, so hopefully this works out! Thanks in advance for support and suggestions if you have any! <3

[ChirpyBird]

Last night's dinner...I had seconds. :'( I just feel like I'm not full and satisfied unless I eat a bunch. Gotta work on this harder.

[Jittersthe.Clown]

What does your plate usually look like?

Following along for your adventure.

[ChirpyBird]

2 minutes ago, Jittersthe.Clown said:

What does your plate usually look like?

Following along for your adventure.

 

Right now I have a really bad diet. Well, it could be worse, but still. 

 

I don't eat red meat or poultry, cheese or milk. I do eat eggs if they aren't cooked with milk, and I do eat fish (however, as of this week, I am considering changing up to a Paleo Diet). 

 

Most nights we have the following dinners:

 

-spaghetti (this is what I had seconds of haha) with Morningstar "meat" crumbles in sauce

-tacos (saitan, diced potatoes, peppers, onions, garlic, black beans, refried beans, hard or soft shells (flour or corn), salsa, hot sauce, lettuce, mushrooms)

-veggie burgers with buns and tater tots on the side

-vegan jambalaya

-vegan gumbo

-salads with black beans and rice 

 

We try to have a salad to begin with for each meal to fill up on, but it never really works for me (I never feel full and still eat as much as I would have without a salad to start).

 

The reason I want to try the Paleo is because everything above is basically carbs. Yes I eat fish, but my husband is full vegan, and doesn't approve of me eating fish, or meat, so we don't have it at home. I've always preferred meals like chicken/salmon with grilled asparagus and a salad, stuff like that, and it seems like that would be something I could eat on the Paleo diet...it's just getting my husband to be okay with me eating meat when he won't that will be another challenge of mine!

[Jittersthe.Clown]

Have you tried the spaghetti squash in place of your noodles?  Goes really well.  But yeah, cutting carbs could help a lot.  

As for the husbandface not approving of your meal choices, sometimes your overall health needs to come first.  I believe you mentioned your doctor saying that a full vegan diet isn't for you.  That has to count for something.  

[ChirpyBird]

6 minutes ago, Jittersthe.Clown said:

Have you tried the spaghetti squash in place of your noodles?  Goes really well.  But yeah, cutting carbs could help a lot.  

As for the husbandface not approving of your meal choices, sometimes your overall health needs to come first.  I believe you mentioned your doctor saying that a full vegan diet isn't for you.  That has to count for something.  

 

haha "husbandface" that's hilarious!

 

Yeah, I think he and I need to have a discussion. Thing is, we have before and he agreed, but then went back to making me feel guilty for my food choices. And that was me telling him the doctor doesn't want me on a vegan diet. I know he's very disturbed by how animals are treated and unsettled that while I completely agree and love animals and hate how they are treated too, I just can't do the same diet he does and have healthy results.

 

I've never tried spaghetti squash...how do you use that in place of noodles?

[Jittersthe.Clown]

Quoting from Halo

 

Pasta is probably the easiest switch you can make if you commit to Spaghetti Squash for a month. Very simply, replace your pasta dishes with the wonder vegetable. 

 

 

I always keep one or two in the fridge, they last a long long time. To cook, cut in half lengthwise, scoop out the seeds, place skin side up in a dish with 1/4 inch of water and microwave for 12-15 minutes or bake for an hour. 

 

When its done, scrape the inside with a fork and it comes out like spaghetti. Top with whatever you normally would top pasta with, but I like pesto, or red pepper pesto the best.  Mixed with olive oil, feta and grilled onions is tasty or just olive oil and a little salt and pepper with a half rotisserie chicken is a great meal. After a few times, if you commit, you won't miss pasta at all. 

It's pretty good.  

 

[ChirpyBird]

5 minutes ago, Jittersthe.Clown said:

Quoting from Halo

 

It's pretty good.  

 

 

Woah! This sounds crazy easy! And this is carb-free?! I wish I had heard of this so long ago!

[Jittersthe.Clown]

Go forth and be awesome.  

 

[ChirpyBird]

Just now, Jittersthe.Clown said:

Go forth and be awesome.  

 

 

You rock. Thank you!

[Jittersthe.Clown]

Meh, I do what I can

 

 

[ChirpyBird]

2 minutes ago, Halo said:

2 other very easy subs for you are ditching the potatoes and tots and subbing sweet potato. For the tacos, use them mike you normally would. For the tots, make some fries. 

 

Fries

Skin off

cut into thin slices 

pile on a plate with a little water

microwave for 12-15 minutes until desired firmness

place on tin foil and coat with olive oil, pepper, salt and rosemary

finish in oven on broil for 1-3 minutes (Careful in the oven on broil not to burn!!!)

 

You can bake instead of nuke for an hour as well. 

 

Ditch the katsup. Get some pesto, chimichuri or other good natural sugar free dip. 

 

Enjoy!!

 

Another sub is to ditch the bun and use lettuce for the bun. 

 

This is awesome info, thank you! Any tips on what I can use in place of soft/hard corn and flour shells for tacos? I know I can just do a taco salad instead, but I was just wondering, you know, to mix it up.

[ChirpyBird]

6 minutes ago, Halo said:

Iceberg leuttice works great as a taco shell. 

 

Total honesty though, I use the fresh frozen corn tortillas for tacos. I'm not completely paleo. I double the meat and double the vegetable sides though and stay away from beans and rice. 

 

I've always found sauted zucchini, squash and onions with olive oil, cumin, salt, pepper and a hint of cayenne go really well on taco night. 

 

Home made guac or sliced avocado with lemon and pepper without the chips is also a great side. If you must have chips, there are some decent sweet potato ones in the store now too that are a little better for you. 

 

This is great info, thank you so much! Now I can't wait to try iceberg lettuce shells haha!

[ChirpyBird]

Super proud of myself today!!! At lunch I only ate half of my meal and didn't snack in between. Dinner was only one plate and I didn't go back for seconds like I normally would have.

 

On top of that, I tried a few yoga poses, did a workout, and went for my 15 minute walk (tried walking meditation for the first time and it only half worked...That's hard!). I also meditated at home after the yoga. I feel great today!

 

Now the true test is if I can keep this up!

[Jittersthe.Clown]

Well done!

[Stronkey Kong]

I have been experimenting with vegetarian/vegan meat replacements... Tofu, seitan, veggie sausages and such. Many of them have great protein/calorie ratios. You could eat those at home to keep the peace. And just cut back on some carbs.

 

And yeah, rice and beans just doesn't do it for a weight loss diet. You have to take in a lot of carbs to get the protein. It annoys me when people confuse complete protein sources for good or ample protein sources.

[ChirpyBird]

2 minutes ago, Curl Brogo said:

I have been experimenting with vegetarian/vegan meat replacements... Tofu, seitan, veggie sausages and such. Many of them have great protein/calorie ratios. You could eat those at home to keep the peace. And just cut back on some carbs.

 

And yeah, rice and beans just doesn't do it for a weight loss diet. You have to take in a lot of carbs to get the protein. It annoys me when people confuse complete protein sources for good or ample protein sources.

 

The issue I'm having with the disagreement is that he thinks I don't need chicken for protein when I have all this tofu and stuff. I want to entirely cut carbs to see if it helps with the immense inflammation I have in my body all the time, and generally makes me feel better. I can't eat just vegetables, and without carbs, I can't get full. I know I can eat fish, but I don't want that for every single meal. I told him I'd only get range free, grass fed meat, but he's still upset, saying that's not possible. So for meals with no carbs and no fish, what are my options to replace those things for protein and feeling full enough until my next meal (trying to also cut out snacking between lunch and dinner)? I've also been told not to eat TOO much tofu (too much of anything isn't good). That's why I thought readd chicken, but nooooope, that makes me a monster.

[Stronkey Kong]

Dig into paleo. There are a lot of claims there, some backed by biochemistry, that grains and the like cause this inflammation. It's not necessarily carbs alone. And if you're gonna do paleo, soy, wheat, and all the vegan protein sources are forbidden. As is dairy.

 

A lot of people use paleo as a fresh start and find that they can add other foods back in once they realize which ones cause the problem and which do not. So you may find out eventually that the soy products were fine, but gluten may have been the problem, or vice versa. 

 

And if you're gonna do this, your husband will have to give you some room to try. I don't know your husband, but I've met a lot of vegetarians and vegans who have drunk the koolaid and like to judge others for falling short of their ideals. Vegan, paleo, and any other diet or lifestyle will not fit every ones needs perfectly. The reality is that each person is different and shouldn't have to sacrifice their health for an ideal.

[ChirpyBird]

1 minute ago, Curl Brogo said:

Dig into paleo. There are a lot of claims there, some backed by biochemistry, that grains and the like cause this inflammation. It's not necessarily carbs alone. And if you're gonna do paleo, soy, wheat, and all the vegan protein sources are forbidden. As is dairy.

 

A lot of people use paleo as a fresh start and find that they can add other foods back in once they realize which ones cause the problem and which do not. So you may find out eventually that the soy products were fine, but gluten may have been the problem, or vice versa. 

 

And if you're gonna do this, your husband will have to give you some room to try. I don't know your husband, but I've met a lot of vegetarians and vegans who have drunk the koolaid and like to judge others for falling short of their ideals. Vegan, paleo, and any other diet or lifestyle will not fit every ones needs perfectly. The reality is that each person is different and shouldn't have to sacrifice their health for an ideal.

YES! That's my main argument, that I shouldn't have to sacrifice my health for an ideal. 100% agree. But he doesn't see that. He loves me so much and wants what is best for me, which is why I'm so upset he can't support me on this decision. I even told him that I have to cut everything out to see what is affecting me food-wise and if it doesn't work, it doesn't work, or if I need to make changes later on, I can, but he is still freaking out. I told him I won't eat beef, because I don't know that I can right now (got really sick once when a restaurant gave me a real burger instead of a veggie burger and now my stomach churns at the thought of it haha) but I need to put chicken in. He said I can eat tofu and the like instead. Do you know why it isn't considered paleo? He said it is because of what it is made out of and I didn't know the argument as to why it is not.

[Stronkey Kong]

Tofu isn't paleo because it is soy. A legume like all other beans and peanuts. Not only that, it's highly processed. Mostly natural, old school processing, but processing still.

 

Paleo is all about eating in a way that mimics how humans ate throughout most of their evolutionary history... Presumably meat, seafood, most fruits, nuts and seeds, tubers (root veggies), and most vegetables. We most likely didn't eat much grain, dairy, and legumes until after we settled down to farm. Hence many people have sensitivities to these foods because we were only exposed to them in great quantities recently. And some biochemistry backs that up... Really i buy the biochemistry more than the evolutionary ideas which are really ad hoc.

 

And also regarding tofu and soy generally, it contains a large amount of phytoestrogen which has been linked to cancer. Of course red meat has its problems too. As does everything else on the menu. Eat what you like, were uniquely doomed in one way or another... 

 

So you can start there, then try new foods one at a time and see if they work. 

 

Regarding the benefits/disasters/research of vegetarianism... Maybe later.

[ChirpyBird]

2 hours ago, Curl Brogo said:

Tofu isn't paleo because it is soy. A legume like all other beans and peanuts. Not only that, it's highly processed. Mostly natural, old school processing, but processing still.

 

Paleo is all about eating in a way that mimics how humans ate throughout most of their evolutionary history... Presumably meat, seafood, most fruits, nuts and seeds, tubers (root veggies), and most vegetables. We most likely didn't eat much grain, dairy, and legumes until after we settled down to farm. Hence many people have sensitivities to these foods because we were only exposed to them in great quantities recently. And some biochemistry backs that up... Really i buy the biochemistry more than the evolutionary ideas which are really ad hoc.

 

And also regarding tofu and soy generally, it contains a large amount of phytoestrogen which has been linked to cancer. Of course red meat has its problems too. As does everything else on the menu. Eat what you like, were uniquely doomed in one way or another... 

 

So you can start there, then try new foods one at a time and see if they work. 

 

Regarding the benefits/disasters/research of vegetarianism... Maybe later.

 

Thanks for the info!!! Definitely helps.

[ChirpyBird]

Today's lunch was 1/3 of my leftover lunch from yesterday and a sammich. Wasn't proud of myself for having bread this soon after cutting out carbs, but it's a slow process, and I know we are allowed a cheat meal here and there, so I'm counting the sammich as one. I even ate all of the insides and left about 1/3 of the bread for a coworker who gobbled it up as it was covered in some delicious pesto.  No more carbs this whole week now! 

[Moira]

38 minutes ago, ChirpyBird said:

Today's lunch was 1/3 of my leftover lunch from yesterday and a sammich. Wasn't proud of myself for having bread this soon after cutting out carbs, but it's a slow process, and I know we are allowed a cheat meal here and there, so I'm counting the sammich as one. I even ate all of the insides and left about 1/3 of the bread for a coworker who gobbled it up as it was covered in some delicious pesto.  No more carbs this whole week now! 

 

mmmmmm...pesto. Do you make it yourself or buy it somewhere?

[ChirpyBird]

23 minutes ago, NucleotidalWave said:

 

mmmmmm...pesto. Do you make it yourself or buy it somewhere?

 

Bought it from a local co-op here in town that hand makes it for sale. It's SO GOOD!

[Unix]

Good luck on your path! Be aware of eating a hight ammount of carbs, since it  can cause you a insuline spike, which lead to tireness and energy crashes, as i have tryed on myself today. I have decided to add 10 biscuits to my oatmeal and honey breakfast. Damn, two hours later i was unable to keep my eyes open. 

 

Since you respect your husband choises and lifestyle he should respect yours. That's not my business, i understand, but i was in relationship with an extreme vegan girl, and it was sooo frustrating hearing that i'm an asshole and that i eat rotten corpses that i "ragequitted" on her after 3 weeks