Eating for a Better You

[Dandy]

You know what? I was 195.8 this morning without going to the bathroom, so I am going to count that as 195.0 for tomorrow morning’s goal before driving to the beach whether I hit it or not. I feel like I deserve a “close enough (that I may not actually need).”

1/10/2022 - 223.8

5/27/2022 - 195.8

28.0 lbs down

 

[SFH]

Started weight watchers again. I previously lost a significant amount of weight with it. Today I cooked salmon with two types of topping. One was a sugar free Thai chili sauce and one was lemon pepper coating. The salmon was the wal-mart brand and looked like the person in the factory needed to take a smoke break because the slice job on the filets was terrible. The thick pieces were still rare in the middle (which, at hibachi that's fine, when cooking wal-mart salmon, ehhh...) and the thin slices were over cooked. I need to learn to compensate for that. Fortunately, the other people eating it liked it. Our sides were asparagus and chickpea based pasta with plant based butter and minced garlic.

Pretty good and VERY low WW points. I still have a few to use before midnight.

 

[JN News]

My family believes in the fact that it's not necessarily WHAT you eat. But it's rather HOW MUCH you eat. I went to a nurse practitioner recently, and surprisingly said that I'm NOT diabetic, despite all the pizza and soda I've been drinking and that my blood pressure is actually normal. But I *might* have high cholesterol levels. We don't know the answer to that, yet. But I do know that I'm now eating 3 pizza slices of pizza per meal and 2 meals per day. I don't know that means that I'm on a diet. But I do that my sister and I are now going to control our eating habits. (Mainly it's ME who will be doing most of that.)

 

[Gert]

If you’re eating 6 slices of pizza a day total that’s probably 2,000-2,400 calories.

Is there anything else you like besides pizza? Like have the three slices for one meal each day and then something else?

I tend to agree with you and your sister about it being how much you eat, but your carb ratio has to be highly skewed along with fat with very little protein in your daily intake.

 

[SFH]

I've got a friend I met in 1999 and I've only seen him eat pizza. To point, for one of our Wrestlemania gatherings I thoughtlessly decided "man all I serve at these things is pizza, I'm going to change it up" and did hot dogs instead.


I wound up having to order a pizza for him. His form has pretty much maintained since we met. He's not skinny but in a side by side comparison, you'd think he had a more diverse diet than I do. He's at least 80 pounds lighter than my 263.

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

You can like shit all you want and sort of get away with it but you're gonna need lots of exercise plus probably a good metabolism and a fair amount of good luck.

One of my best friends lives entirely on chicken finger boxes, cheese pizzas, and Diet Coke and he's way slimmer than I am because he bikes or jogs everywhere (and he's a teetotaler). Maybe diet sodas really DO work!

 

[Mickey Massuco]

alcohol is a huge drain on your health, that makes a big difference.

 

[Dandy]

Mods, please ban this lunatic and scrub any existence of his filthy talk.

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

alcohol is a huge drain on your health, that makes a big difference.

I'm at the age where I genuinely have no idea how people are able to balance being regular drinkers and maintaining a regular exercise schedule. I guess most people don't?

My thirties definitely have knocked me down from functioning alcoholic to social drinker.

 

[SFH]

I've been hovering between 235-238 the last week or so. I was 280 in April. I'm doing weight watchers and also eating healthier options most of the time. Weekends are difficult because we have friends in the live entertainment space and if we don't front load with healthy food we wind up having to rely on bar food or diner food post gig. With my existing stomach issues it's hard to find things that aren't cross contaminated with dairy. The only plus to that is if I do get diarrhea, I usually drop a pound that day .

I'm having a very difficult time reconciling how Weight Watchers will reward me all day for eating chicken breast but God forbid I eat a wing, thigh, or leg. I get that white meat breast is preferred and so the thigh and leg would have Weight Watchers points associated with it. Wings are white meat too but according to the app, even if I bake or air fry, I have to account for the points whereas chicken breast (not fried) is 0 points when I track it.

I've found the best thing for my sweet tooth: Sugar free Nature's Own bread, Crazy Richard's organic Peanut Butter, Smuckers sugar free jam/jelly/preserves (whatever is in stock on grocery day) and the 0 calorie non stick spray. Cook it like a grilled cheese in a hot frying pan. It's like eating a PB&J donut and it's only like 8 points, 5 of it from the PB and even that I can cut in half.

 

[JN News]

If you’re eating 6 slices of pizza a day total that’s probably 2,000-2,400 calories.

Is there anything else you like besides pizza? Like have the three slices for one meal each day and then something else?

I tend to agree with you and your sister about it being how much you eat, but your carb ratio has to be highly skewed along with fat with very little protein in your daily intake.

I like Lean Cuisine. I like their Ravioli and Lasagna as well as a few other things.

 

[HarleyQuinn]

I have been doing a lot of sandwiches for lunch (JIF Creamy Peanut Butter, Welch's Concord Grape Jam, and Land O Lakes Butter w/Canola Oil being my weapons of choice). Thanks to SFH's post, I may have to look and see if Welch's has a Sugar Free version. How is the sugar-free version of the Smuckers taste-wise @SFH?

 

[Dandy]

Smuckers All Natural is pretty f good.

Edit: I’m not sure that answers your question because I don’t know if it has added sugar. It’s what my kids eat.

 

[SFH]

I have been doing a lot of sandwiches for lunch (JIF Creamy Peanut Butter, Welch's Concord Grape Jam, and Land O Lakes Butter w/Canola Oil being my weapons of choice). Thanks to SFH's post, I may have to look and see if Welch's has a Sugar Free version. How is the sugar-free version of the Smuckers taste-wise @SFH?

It definitely has that "sugar free" taste I've found in brands like Walden Farms. It's almost close to jelly donut filling but with bits of fruit. It doesn't taste like a chemistry experiment but it takes a few sandwiches before you no longer notice it and just acclimate.

 

[Dandy]

I have got to get back on my intermittent fasting; reduced carb; no sweets; no alcohol diet. I stayed at 195 for well over a year and I slowly got back up to 220 or higher. It’s mainly not much sleep and a poor diet because in May I averaged 7,300 steps per day while I had my phone on me, and nine days over 10,000 steps. My metabolism is shot and my cravings are out of control.

Anyone want to get in a contest or accountability deal to push ourselves?

 

[Mickey Massuco]

How do you know it’s your metabolism? If you’re eating too much junk and not getting exercise outside of walking odds are you’ll put on weight even if you have good metabolism.

 

[Dandy]

Well, the math sort of shows it but there is honestly a lot of assuming with that. Calories in versus calories out. The calories burned via all that walking plus what a person normally burns in my daily activities should be X. The amount of calories I consume would have to be higher than that to keep adding weight. I have not been tracking religiously but I have ballparked it often and I should not have been putting on weight.

But the following is 100% true: alcohol, lack of sleep, lack of exercise, stress, diet, and age can all lower your metabolism. So the diet is part of it but not the whole story. I cannot really exercise outside of the 3-5 miles per day walking because of my muscular disease. I need to get back to biking and swimming , but I can’t lift much weights and many activities hurt and/or are detrimental.

 

[Gert]

I have got to get back on my intermittent fasting; reduced carb; no sweets; no alcohol diet. I stayed at 195 for well over a year and I slowly got back up to 220 or higher. It’s mainly not much sleep and a poor diet because in May I averaged 7,300 steps per day while I had my phone on me, and nine days over 10,000 steps. My metabolism is shot and my cravings are out of control.

Anyone want to get in a contest or accountability deal to push ourselves?

I‘m in for accountability posts. I’m down about 20 lbs from my heaviest but have stalled out the last month. Want to start July 1st?

 

[Dandy]

I‘m in for accountability posts. I’m down about 20 lbs from my heaviest but have stalled out the last month. Want to start July 1st?

Yes

 

[Dandy]

Starting the accountability:

As mentioned, I have been eating horribly. I started out at 223.2 this morning which is unacceptable after getting down to 195 for so long. I may add ounces of water; total steps; miles walked and biked for exercise; etc. some days but not right away. I am also trying to get back to my intermittent fasting baseline of only eating between noon and 8pm.

Started eating: 12:23pm
Finished eating: 6:18pm
Water: (I will be well over my 96oz target before bedtime)
Calories: 1,880
Fat: 110
Carbs: 102
Protein: 132

Not horrible but not great on the first day back. I had two burgers off the Blackstone, and I ate them on the buns. That put me over my desired calories and carbs. The ground beef put me over the fats by a bunch. I do much better at 200P, <100C and <50F (unless they are better fats like fish and avocado). I’ll get back in the swing of things.

 

[Gert]

7-1-24
Weigh-in: 252.6
Down 19 lbs from Super Bowl Sunday, up 1.5 from 5-3-24 last time I weighed in.

I’ll post my macros splits tomorrow, I left them at work. My plan is a 2 scoop Protein shake in the morning, a lunch and dinner, with a pre workout meal of Greek yogurt, raw honey and a banana in between.

Lets’s do this!

 

[Dandy]

Started eating: 12:04pm
Finished eating: 6:09pm
Water: (probably finish around 72oz, below where I want)

Calories: 1,560
Fat: 73
Carbs: 106
Protein: 118

Dinner killed me again as we ate leftover spaghetti due to our schedules and not wanting to let prepared food go to waste. Still, I feel that the lowered calories and intermittent fasting will help quite a bit until I can get my macros dialed in again.

 

[AA484]

Started eating: 12:04pm
Finished eating: 6:09pm
Water: (probably finish around 72oz, below where I want)

Calories: 1,560
Fat: 73
Carbs: 106
Protein: 118

Dinner killed me again as we ate leftover spaghetti due to our schedules and not wanting to let prepared food go to waste. Still, I feel that the lowered calories and intermittent fasting will help quite a bit until I can get my macros dialed in again.

Can't remember if you said whether you can or not with your health stuff, but are you able to exercise any?

 

[Dandy]

I can exercise, but. . .

My left triceps is almost completely gone I have trouble pushing a blanket off me with my left arm. My rhomboids and traps are nearly gone. My middle and lower pecs are nearly gone. My lower abdomen is weak and cause pooching but also prevents a lot of core exercises. My left hamstring is over 50% gone.

Working out and running are fairly difficult because of that. Walking, cycling, and swimming are what I can do best.

If I have micro tears of muscles (common for working out and building muscle), my muscles may not repair themselves, meaning further and faster damage. Maintaining what you have is key but damn it is such a fine line.

 

[Gert]

7-4-24

249.7 lbs. I'll be giving some of it back today obviously, but its at someone elses house so I will be happy there will be no leftovers.

My current plan for the next week is 48g fat, 121g carbs, 186g protein.

Still tinkering around with my carbs with my eggs and cottage cheese in the morning. Going between rice and pinto beans.

 

[Dandy]

The last two days were always planned off days for me as far as macros and calories were concerned. Wednesday evening was our annual neighborhood block party. I tried to not eat in the evening and that backfired because after eight pints of Miller Lite, I ended up eating Taco Bell just before midnight. Yesterday was going to be lots of food with the kids. It rained all day so I made homemade pizzas indoors. I also ended up eating two pieces of peanut butter fudge and a leftover slice that set me back about three hours on my fasting.

With zero calorie tracking, here were my IF times:

7/3 - First Bite: 1:06pm Last Bite: 12:00am

7/4 - First Bite: 2:55pm Last Bite: 8:00pm

 

[Dandy]

One week in. I was pretty good with the intermittent fasting all week. I had the two holiday celebration days in there that made my calorie goals laughable, and I have not been eating very well with my macros in mind. Weighed myself this morning and was 219.6, a 3.6 pound loss from a week ago.

That can happen in a flukish manner so I am not hanging my hat on that. I need to get my macros dialed in and work in a 24 hour fast soon.

 

[Gert]

Are you doing 16:8 on your fast or 18:6?

 

[Dandy]

Shooting for 16:8 and nearly always overachieve. When I really get going, I do a lot of 18:6 to 20:4 with an occasional One Meal A Day (OMAD) or full day-plus of fasting.

 

[Dandy]

For anyone that missed it in the thread years ago, my fasting is more for blood sugar control than weight loss. I end up feeling so much better while doing IF but that could always be due to reducing blood sugar spikes or just being more regulated/in the range I need. It is not for everyone.