Should I even be trying?

[Meryl36]

Hi

First post here so let me tell ya'll about myself. I'm a 53 yo female who stands 5' 1' & weighs approx 140lbs. I know I need to lose weight. I also know how to go about it but here's my problem. It's financial. I just can't afford to buy grass fed meat & poultry, organic veggies & grass fed butter. Not only can I not afford it but my husband (who does all the shopping) is cheap & wouldn't even if he could. He doesn't need to loose weight & will not be joining me in my new weight loss endeavor. I know I should go paleo, I truly believe it would help me but if I can't get the right food products, is it worth trying or should I be looking at some other diet? I know I can cut carbs & loose a few pounds so maybe I should just go that route? Also I can't do anything whole hog. I know I wouldn't be able to cut out everything all at once & do something like a whole 30. I'm more a baby step kinda gal.

So there you have it. Any advice, encouragement or comparison to my story would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[Elastigirl]

When I first started Paleo, we didn't do grass fed meat. I just did regular meat, and most of my veggies weren't organic. I am your height, and about your weight when I started and was able to lose weight. I focused on eating healthy foods, cut back on carbs (especially refined carbs) cut carbs and added fat into my diet.

 

As far as taking steps, the first thing I did was swap out my breakfast of cereal for eggs and meat, or leftovers. I made sure my breakfast had at least 25 grams of protein. A lot of people do that, just swap one non paleo meal for one paleo meal. Or you could focus on adding something in, say have at least one serving of veggies with your meals.

[Leimanu]

Even if we all had the resources for grass fed meat and organic vegetables, it's almost impossible to jump into such a strict way of eating.  Don't concern yourself with being perfect based on someone else's guidelines.  You're on a journey to find out what works for YOU.  Depending on the person, some people love being vegetarian, or follow the Mediterranean style of eating, or the China diet.

 

Don't think of it as a diet but as a lifestyle change, and that take little steps.  I've been on my fitness journey for about 5 years and I still have to trick myself into eating vegetables, lol.  

 

Look at what you can control before making huge changes.  Can you eat a little less processed sugar?  Cut back on soda?  Eat a couple baby carrots for a snack?  Try them with hummus  Take a short walk?  Put a timer on for 30min when you know you'll be sitting awhile so that when the timer goes off you'll stand up and walk around for 5 min before sitting down again.  Watch a YouTube video on how to do a proper body weight squat.

 

I found that I hate: going to the gym more than 3d/wk, running, cooking (my cross to bear), and group exercise classes.  I don't have the budget for a lot of exercise clothes.  So I do what I love: weight lifting at a gym that accepts all people; hike; make a lot of meals in the slow cooker.

 

I've also learned to be very forgiving  Good luck!  Take a look around the Boards here, ask a lot of questions, and learn about yourself!

[Shen]

Yes, you can and should absolutely try! If you can't go organic/grass fed, then as said above just focus on eating more vegetables and meats, and less grains/junk food. I've also read that if you can only afford one, getting organic fruits and vegetables is actually better because animals have some natural ability to process out the bad stuff. But if you can't afford that, go conventional and do your best! Steve himself doesn't follow a strict paleo diet.

[Shamus36]

Some great advice here!  I've tried big steps in the past and always failed.  I love the effectiveness of small steps.  I took a full 6 months to go from a teaspoon of sugar in my tea or coffee, to none at all.  It was gradual enough that I didn't notice, and several years on my old ways taste too sweet.  That was about 4 teaspoons of sugar out of my daily diet - simple and painless.

 

And as the others have said, don't worry yourself about going organic.  Regular veggies and big farm chicken is still far, far better for you than processed food.

 

As for exercise, make sure it is something that you can stay motivated with.  That has always been the biggest killer for my goals.  I try to do what I think I "should" be doing, and ultimately lose focus and fail.  I have since stopped fighting my nature.  I loath running for the sake of getting healthy.  But running to improve my endurance and become a better soccer player - that I can wrap my head around. 

[Leimanu]

I thought of something else - for fruit, I heard it's not a big deal for the ones you peel, like bananas and oranges.  All the pesticides are sprayed on the peel, the part you throw away anyway.

[Meryl36]

Thank you all so much for your responses. It's encouraging to know that the whole organic/grass fed thing is something that I can bend on. I'm gonna try my baby step approach & see how it goes. I gave up soda about a year ago so I at least have that under my belt. Tonight while hubby & I were out, he asked if I was hungry & wanted to go grab something.... I SAID NO!!! I told him I wanted to eat at home & that's just what we did. I had made some pulled pork the other night so I had that on a baked potato (I know not paleo) with some sour cream & a sprinkle of cheese. Not a great meal but at least it wasn't fast food & I finished it off with a few clementines instead of cookies. It's a start. I also LOVE to walk so I'm already doing about 3 miles whenever I can get out, probably 2-3 times a week.

I'll keep lurking around & getting more inspiration from you nice folks. Thanks for the encouragement so far

[Zho]

You're already doing great! I don't have much to add, everyone else has given some fantastic advice. Just do your best with the hand you're dealt, and be ready when the opportunity arises to take control (like buying groceries that you are interested in, or like how you told your husband no to eating out! I know how hard it can be to say no to that one!). I live in a small town that's two hours from the nearest healthy market -- I have no access to grass-fed-anything, and still can't find many of the trendy "super foods" that sound amazingly delicious, like chia seeds, lentils, etc. Many of the ones I do find are way too expensive. So I do my best with what I can find.

 

Don't worry about following a strict diet. I don't think it's a helpful mentality. Just think -- the potato you had for dinner wasn't paleo, but it was full of nutritious minerals that your body loves! If it doesn't make you sick, then how can that possibly be a bad thing? Besides, potatoes are way too delicious for their own good. Or maybe that's just me. ;)

[Foo]

Well, my $0.02 will be based on personal experience and age-old philosophy.

 

Men much wiser than myself often suggest a 'middle path', where it's simply the path of least resistance that provides the greatest result.  That if you're struggling to make 'perfect dietary choices' then you'll fail to make ones that are just 'good choices.'  Perfect is often the enemy of good, and you'll wear yourself out trying to achieve such a drastic lifestyle change at once.

 

You sound like you're on the right path, and by simply changing one to two things when they present themselves, you'll soon find that you've gradually changed much about yourself.

 

Best of luck!

[Meryl36]

Wow it 's so nice to have people to communicate with! Thanks again for taking the time to write to me...it helps hearing from others that I'm doing the right thing & will succeed. My baby step this morning was to only put one teaspoon of xylitol and one teaspoon of vanilla flavored syrup in my coffee instead of two each. It sucks but I'm gonna keep at it. I'm also gonna go for a walk as soon as the sun is up

Thanks again everyone. I'll keep poking around the forums to see what eel I can learn from ya'll

[Rebe_J]

I know it's hard to make these changes without support from other members of the household. You have to do what's best for your good health, though.

 

I'm new to NF, but I've been following a Paleo(-ish) eating plan for several years. I have done the Whole 30 thing twice and this is what I learned from that:

 

Grass-fed, free-range, organic, etc. are preferred, but get the best quality protein you can afford.

 

If you can't afford (or find) grass-fed, then go with the leanest cuts of conventionally raised meat. It's the fat that retains the toxins. Healthy fat is important in the diet, and it can come from other sources: avocado, olives, nuts, coconut oil, for example. Also, leaner cuts of meat are often less expensive.

 

High quality meats can be hard to find in some areas. I found that my local University's Agricultural Science department has a beef program, including a retail butcher shop. I can get high quality meat at a good price and support the local U at the same time. Win Win.

 

Best of luck to you.

[Shen]

Yes! Another thing to look into are CSAs. For $480/year (my partner and I each pay $240 each, or $80 per month for 3 months) we get 45lbs of frozen organic meat from our CSA, which is about $10/lb. There are also much cheaper vegetable CSAs. That might be way too much, though - they were too expensive for me for a long time.

And yeah, your dinner sounds pretty good! I love eating meat and fruit. If you wanted to you could try adding some more vegetables, but it seems like you are right on track.

 

[Basement Cat]

Hello!

 

You already got some great advice above, so I'll just say good luck! Keep us posted!

[Meryl36]

Thanks again everyone. I'm still here trying but it's getting hard. I thought that by eatin better my digestion would improve but honestly it hasn't. I start out with a relatively small stomach but by the end of the day, no matter what I eat, I feel bloated & uncomfortable. Even now at 5:30 am before I eat anything (having coffee with cream, coconut oil & one teaspoon vanilla SF syrup & one teaspoon sugar) I hear my tummy grumbling & making the weirdest noise. I'm getting kinda discouraged. Especially when I come home & see hubby eating pizza for dinner last night. All I had last night was paleo flat bread (tapioca starch & eggs & spices) & some chicken thighs with home made mayo

I'm also supposed to be going out for a happy hour tonight at work & don't know WHAT I'm gonna eat/drink there. I REALLY want a drink.....help!

Meryl

[zeroh13]

It's OK to have a drink occasionally, just don't go overboard. Same with going out to eat.

With any diet plan, if being super strict isn't sustainable, then by all means be as flexible as you need to be. The "best" plan is the one you can stick to.

Digestion is a tricky thing. Stress, changes in diet, reactions to certain foods, etc, can all wreck havoc on your system. If there wasn't a big change in what you eat, then it's possible you're still eating something that your body doesn't like. Since you had digestion issues before, I suggest that you track what you eat and see if you can find a likely culprit. Cut it out and then see if your digestion improves.

I've found that if I try to drink anything on an empty stomach, it'll be like "what are you doing? I want food, not this!" (in grumbly, unhappy noises). Maybe having a pre-breakfast snack with your coffee, or moving your coffee to breakfast time would help.

Best of luck!

[bikinibottom]

Whatever happens tonight, don't beat yourself up tomorrow if it's "bad". Just get back on the wagon and keep going. That comes from someone who has started many times, and then given up because I had already failed. But you can't view it as a failure if you eat or drink too much one time. Tomorrow is always another day!

[thekatisalie]

Hello!

 

You already got some great advice above, so I'll just say good luck! Keep us posted!

^ this. I have a 'cheap' husband too (just financially conscious, since it's kinda his job). I always modified any meal plan based on what I can afford and what is realistic -- that's how you stay successful. I can't afford the hoity-toity grass fed, chemical free stuff most of the time. When I can, I do. Otherwise, I do the best with what I've got. You can do this!

[Jittersthe.Clown]

I would have to agree with everything everyone has said.  I want to add one more.  It's important.

Are you ready?

Good.

 

DON'T GIVE UP!  
It might be hard at times and the easy way is to say "This is the best I'm going to be, so why try".  I've been there.  I think many of us have.  Don't listen to that voice.  You are stronger than that.  Your first step was great; you saw a problem that you wanted to change, and you reached out for help.  It's not easy, but it is an important first step.  Do the best you can with what you have.  Make those small changes that will end up being lifestyle changes for you.  This is a lifelong journey.  You will have set backs and you will have "bad" days.  Tomorrow will be a better day, if you make it better.  You are in control and you can do this.  We are here to help you and encourage you on this journey.  
Something that I didn't get until last month is that while my weight hasn't gone down much, my health has gone up.  I can run longer, I can lift both of my kids at once and I did a 5 minute plank.  I feel better.

 

[Fatal]

Everyone here gave a lot of good advice. I haven't been completely Paleo, but I ate healthier food and smaller portions, and stuck to a workout schedule. I still got the results I wanted, even through the holidays. Consistency was key.

 

Even if we all had the resources for grass fed meat and organic vegetables, it's almost impossible to jump into such a strict way of eating.  Don't concern yourself with being perfect based on someone else's guidelines.  You're on a journey to find out what works for YOU.  Depending on the person, some people love being vegetarian, or follow the Mediterranean style of eating, or the China diet.

 

Didn't know about the China diet, seems like the book might be a good read.

 

 All I had last night was paleo flat bread (tapioca starch & eggs & spices) 

Send some please.

[Jbwraith]

Mediterranean food is delicious and I highly recommend that it is tried if you haven;'t already. Tabouleh is easy to make, but I can't comment on difficulty of other dishes (can't cook where I live, unfortunately).

[sashi]

Thanks again everyone. I'm still here trying but it's getting hard. I thought that by eatin better my digestion would improve but honestly it hasn't. I start out with a relatively small stomach but by the end of the day, no matter what I eat, I feel bloated & uncomfortable. Even now at 5:30 am before I eat anything (having coffee with cream, coconut oil & one teaspoon vanilla SF syrup & one teaspoon sugar) I hear my tummy grumbling & making the weirdest noise. I'm getting kinda discouraged. Especially when I come home & see hubby eating pizza for dinner last night. All I had last night was paleo flat bread (tapioca starch & eggs & spices) & some chicken thighs with home made mayo

I'm also supposed to be going out for a happy hour tonight at work & don't know WHAT I'm gonna eat/drink there. I REALLY want a drink.....help!

Meryl

 

This is why I've always thought that some of these very restrictive diets (used for non-medical reasons) are not always the best plan of attack. It leads to some very disordered thinking about food. You shouldn't have to stress over the occasional happy hour cocktail (unless by "occasional," you really mean "every day").

As for the digestion thing, you say this is regular.... how long has this been happening? Just since changing some of your eating or is it the same as before? If it's the former, it's possible your body needs some time to adjust. If it's the latter and it's been going on for more than a couple of weeks, I'd go see your doctor. 

[Leimanu]

 

 

 

WOO!  Red Green FTW!  I sure miss that show.