<p>Just catching up on several pages of posts …</p>
<p>BCEagle – pumpkin seeds are yummy, but watch out how many you eat. They make you “go” if you know what I mean.</p>
<p>Way back when my D & S were small, I did WW and lost all the “baby weight.” I pretty much stopped drinking wine with dinner and switched to plain seltzer. I’m still drinking seltzer, but perhaps need to think about going to non-carbonated drinks? A flatter stomach sounds good … H & I used to drink Diet 7-Up, but gave that up when we realized we couldn’t tell the kids they couldn’t drink soda while we had it. So now I almost never buy soda of any type – but will admit to an occasional Diet Pepsi when we’re out.</p>
<p>Finally checking in today. Everyone is doing so well! I know i feel better everyday. I haven’t completely given up the carbs but have cut way back. I really do notice a lot less bloat. I love it! The best part is that I’m not hungry. I at when I want to but stop short at the bread, chips, crackers, etc. </p>
<p>The only thing on the negative side is that I am getting a little sick of eggs :(</p>
<p>EPTR – Have you tried cold roast chicken? (I just get a nice Rotisserie one once a week.) I also have found that a breakfast of some fresh mozarella sliced up with a nice tomato and some basil, salt, pepper and a small drizzle of olive oil is very pleasant in the hot weather. (Not that it is hot today – we actually had a winter storm warning last night, and snow above 9000 feet. Yikes.)</p>
<p>Could someone who is using myplate tell me how when you manually enter a food, you can put in the carbs, protein, etc. I can list the food and the calories, but can’t figure the rest out.</p>
<p>Google the recipe for a Muffin in a Minute, people love them or hate them but we like them ok and they will keep you full all morning. It’s mostly flaxseed and egg. I slice them in 3 slices and slather them with butter. They’re good with a few blueberries thrown in there but you have to cook them longer than a minute then.</p>
<p>I had a very bad day today. Had two eggs, once over lightly for breakfast. Was starved by lunchtime and had a mixed green salad with cucumbers, red onions, red peppers and strips of Tandoori chicken and a peppercorn ranch dressing. Didn’t do much for me. I was hungry in a few hours and just craved snacks like crazy all day. I so wanted some snack crackers, banana bread or cookies or even just plain white bread. No question about it–I am a carb junkie. The thought of some cheese or meats as a snack made me nauseated.</p>
<p>So for dinner I had a balance meal of a salad, pork curry with carrots, onions, celery (I skipped the potatoes) on rice with some pickles. I could have eaten twice the rice, but I am trying to keep it balanced in terms of protein, high carb and low carb as the book says. I have been sitting here since craving more rice. </p>
<p>I’ll continue this for a few more days, but it isn’t as easy as the book says it is. Yes, I’m drinking lots of water, iced tea, green tea. I’ve cut out my cafe au lait which I miss along with my slice of banana nut breat or other pastry for my mid morning snack. I don’t care for sodas or juices so those are not issues. </p>
<p>I really do not like salads but that will be my lunch for this week. My MIL is thrilled because she loves salads and I’ll make one for her too. I make great salads,but I prefer sandwiches on a good tasting white bread. I really miss those bad carbs. I wish there were a diet where I could just eat those. I could live with limiting anything else without any issue.</p>
<p>Cpt, I"m not sure how long you’ve been trying to cut down on the carbs, but if it is less than a week, TRY to stay with it! The longer you cut, the less you’ll crave. Just make sure you are getting enough protein and don’t just eat rabbit food.</p>
<p>Tonight I had a “salad”, but really, the romaine was secondary to everything on top. Grilled chicken, sliced almonds, dried cherries, dubliner cheese (sharp), a couple of sliced tomatoes. It WAS delicious and filling - I don’t make it tiny - it was covering my dinner plate. </p>
<p>Julia, can you explain further what you mean re: My Plate? I have used it on and off (it gets me back on track if I get off track) but am not sure what you mean - do you mean when you want to add a food that isn’t coming up in the choices???</p>
<p>Cpt, make sure you are eating enough fat. You can’t be low-carb and low-fat. It isn’t easy but if you stick with it, really, the cravings will go away. </p>
<p>Julia, I don’t know either, I never could figure that out.</p>
<p>^^^
I’m surprised that I’m not craving carbs. </p>
<p>Cpt,
Is it possible that you aren’t taking in enough calories and that’s why you have such strong cravings? I know that sometimes I will get a sugar low and I want to eat carbs like crazy. Maybe you need to eat more in general.</p>
<p>While I’ve been cutting back on the carbs, I have upped my intake of protein and have been less obsessed over avoiding all fat. I think that’s why I feel satisfied. And I lost 2 1/2 lbs. this week so something is doing the trick. </p>
<p>Arabrab,
I don’t know if I could eat chicken for breakfast but it’s worth a try! Thanks!</p>
<p>Then under FOOD SEARCH, check the box next to “As real time results beneath the search box as I type”</p>
<p>Now, when you start typing the name of a food item, a list of possilble choices will appear below. Scroll that list and click one that is closest to what you want. You can then change the quantity and all the nutrition info will adjust accordingly. </p>
<p>Those items marked VERIFIED have been verified by Livestrong from an actual nutrition label. </p>
<p>In over a year of using Livestrong, I’ve never manually entered a food or calories. The existing database is huge.</p>
<p>I just went to Livestrong and signed up - what a great resource! I entered everything I ate today, and got a calorie count and breakdown of fiber, protein, carbs, fat, etc.</p>
<p>I tried the one at Sparkpeople and it was okay but didn’t have a large menu. Adding food was cumbersome. Is livestrong easier? I don’t tend to measure my food, I just estimate.</p>
<p>Cpt – 2 eggs come to less than 200 calories – and unless you had a lot of strips of tandoori chicken on that salad, or a lot of dressing, that didn’t add a huge amount more. I’d also think you were pretty low on fat, which is tough if you’re trying to do low-carb. Maybe have some ham with those eggs, and some avocado with the salad, or something similar?</p>
<p>Love the support and ideas on this thread. As of this a.m. I have lost 34 pounds (found out my neighbor’s scales I used were wrong…in a good way this week) since last year this time…yah! I was a super carb eater before I started. I confess I still eat one cup of cereal w/skim milk for breakfast but nobody’s perfect, right? Overall, the craving for carbs has kind of/somewhat lost it’s iron grip on me (except for fruit). I don’t fantasize about “white foods” anymore. Buying smaller clothes is much more satisfying.</p>
<p>I had to sort of psych. myself out…
Whenever I really wanted a carby snack (microwave popcorn was a nemesis) I would keep telling myself that the satisfaction of eating it would be gone the second I swallowed it and then I would feel absolutely no different but would be mad at myself for the rest of the day. </p>
<p>I love the “crunch factor”. I keep baby carrots,celery, apples,almonds and dry roasted no salt peanuts on hand all the time so when I have a crunch craving, I can do it without feeling so guilty.</p>
<p>Idad, I agree. The database is huge. But it took me a lot longer to find a choice that was close than it would have to enter the exact data myself from the container in front of me. I have been using fitday, and you can manually put in all the nutrition facts. On myplate if you don’t choose from the list, is the name of the food and the calorie count all you can add?</p>
<p>There was an “add new item” feature at Livestrong, but they disabled it a few months ago. When I used it, I entered everything and even linked to an online nutrition label for verification. I don’t know if it’s been re-activated or not. I think they are trying to avoid a lot of duplication and inaccurate entries.</p>
<p>It’s worth the time to search and find an item that is close, because as you select items from the lists, they automatically go to the top of the list the next time you search. So your most used items will appear first in all the lists.</p>
<p>Some tips: search by brand name. Also, if you aren’t finding something, try searching by the grocery store names (Publix, Shaw’s, Kroger, etc.)</p>
<p>I’m going to look at livestrong and see whether it’s something I want to do. I woke up at 4:30 and couldn’t go back to sleep. Wonder if I’m too hungry.</p>